The Search for Truth
by Brucas Makes It Great
Summary: This is a brucas fic set in season 1 with the changes being that Dan Scott had another child Riley a girl .Only couple that's set in stone is Brucas,Im open to ideas on the others.Brucas are offially together now and were about to go back to the school
1. Loneliness

**Author's Note:** This is my first fan fic so bare with me

**Summary:** This is set in season with the changes being that Dan Scott had another child (Riley a girl). Only couple that's set in stone is Brucas, I'm open to ideas on the others. Many, Many other changes will be made, but they'll be explained as the story progresses. Luke is a very confused boy I should say.

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**Chapter 1**: Loneliness

They sit there at their table like royalty, laughing and joking completely in love with how perfect their lives are.

It's a funny thing, the whole quad is full of students and yet here I sit at my table alone. Sometimes while I'm sitting here alone I wonder what I must have done to deserve this kind of torture. Then there are times when I feel like a whiner. In all honesty what right do I have to complain about my life when there are people just hanging on to their lives?

But that doesn't change the fact that I live in a world where my birth father chose to raise two of his children and then hate me. A world where those same two children despise everything about me. My mother and my uncle can tell me every day till their blue in the faces that were better off. Hell, sometimes when I see how screwed up my so called brother and sister are, I'm close to believing them. But while I may come close, I never truly believe them. I can never believe them because to believe that, would be to say it's ok that my siblings get to live like king and queen, while I sit alone eating my bagged lunch.

And now the king and Queen have a new servant. I'm nearly positive that if someone had told me the new member of their group was Haley, I would have nearly died laughing. But it isn't a joke. Haley really is with them now.

Seeing her over there I can't help but wonder what sitting at that table would be like. I know of course that will never be an option since I'm nothing more than Lucas Scott, the unwanted Scott, the bastard Scott.

He sits there with his stupid Tree Hill basketball coat on. He must make some kind of joke because I see two of the jocks at the table start to laugh, and then the lackey Tim slaps him on his back. To Tim's right I see my best friend Haley. She looks out of place, and for a moment I feel badly for her. The sadness I feel towards her begins to go away the moment I remember the first time she walked away from me in the hallway.

(Flashback - School)

_I'm sitting against her locker waiting for her to arrive. I haven't seen her in forever. Hopefully today she'll actually drag herself out of the tutoring center and hang out with me. It's the days when I don't see her that I most realize how much I rely on her as a friend, and confidant. It's almost class time, and I've already been waiting here for ten minutes. So I guess she's not done yet. I push myself up from her locker and turn towards my class, and that's when I see her._

"_Hey Hales, how are you? You haven't been in class for days." I blurt out once I've got close enough to her._

"_Oh, Hey Luke" She says, but I can tell something's up when she fidgets and looks over her shoulder._

"_Where have you been lately?"I'm a little nervous about the answer_

"_umm, just around. Listen Luke I've got to get going to class, I'm already running late as it is." She's nearly rocking on her feet, and she still keeps stealing glances around her._

"_Haley, are you ok? If there's something wrong you know you can talk to me." I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder. With the touch I see her head lower and shoulders drop. Like the weight of whatever she was holding was lessened somehow._

"_Luke..."she starts to say until she's interrupted by a voice behind her. _

"_What's this Haley? Slumming with bastards?" _

That hurt, I'm not going to lie. It never gets easy being called a bastard. But what really hurt was what she answered with.

"_Umm…Slumming, no of course not. The loser was just harassing me for a date" she stepped back to stand beside Riley. And in that moment I saw the look of sadness etched in her eyes. By this point the whole hallway was staring at us. I scanned the crowd, tears now threatening to fall. I looked around, and I prayed that someone, anyone would step forward and defend me. But no one did. The whole hallway just stood and watched. And then without another word Riley and Haley turned around and walked towards their class. With that the tears won out, and the last thing I saw before I turned to leave the school was Haley turning and looking at me with remorseful eyes._

I don't know if I knew it than but that day would change everything. She apologized later that day at my mother's cafe, and promised it would never happen again. When she promised me I had believed her. Still that day hurt me more that I could have ever imagined. This wasn't some asshole father who didn't care about anyone except himself. This wasn't two siblings who had never taken the time to know me. This was my best friend. She knew everything about me, and still decided I wasn't good enough to stay for. As I said, that day hurt a lot. But at least I knew she would never do it again. That was until she did it the second time. After the second time, the third and fourth time didn't hurt so much. She barely even apologizes anymore, just gives me this look that's supposed to take away all the pain she causes me.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear Haley let out one of her, oh so common laughs now days. The fact that I know her tells me everything about that laugh. It's fake and only meant to draw all the attention to her. I wonder how one person can change so drastically. I watch as she takes a quick look over at Nathan to see if he noticed her presence. As usual he doesn't, and in that moment I see a small glimpse of my friend, I see the sadness etched upon her face. But as quickly as it comes, the sadness leaves and she goes back to laughing at something else my sister says.

For all intensive purposes, Riley Scott is my sister. I have to ask myself how this person could be my sister. I'm not so blind that I can't see that we share the same eyes. But when it comes to our personality? I can't see any family relation. I wonder if under different parenting she would be different. Is the sole reason for her and Nathan's vindictive behaviour the fault of poor parenting? Or, is it genetic and is it only a matter of time until I become an asshole too. I watch her jump from person to person at the table. She expertly jokes to each, each emitting the same joyous laugh. All happy just to be included in the great Riley's Scott's Conversation.

What makes her different than me?

Why did Dan Scott choose to support her as well?

And the most important question of all is why do I want so desperately to be sitting at that table?

And that's when my thoughts are broken again. At least this time it's not by some embarrassingly phony laugh by my best friend, or by the increasingly common glares my brother sends my way. No, this time my thoughts are interrupted by the effortless movement of two goddesses. I often wonder to myself whether it is possible to love two people at the same time? Is it possible to have every thought stolen from your mind, the moment two people enter your eye line? If you can only love one person, than I am at a loss to describe what I feel for the other. They walk arm in arm across the quad. Curly blonde hair brushing up against Smooth brunette hair. They stop just short of the royal table, but are thankfully still in plain sight.

I love this moment, and I live for this feeling. It might take my whole life to realize what it is I truly feel when Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer are near. Sometimes I think my life could be happy if only I could stare at them. There are other times I have the craziest thoughts that I might even talk to them. At night I dare to dream of kissing Brooke Davis's lips. Of running my hands all over her body.

Of course I realize how unlikely it is that I'll ever be intimate with Brooke Davis, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming. I sometimes wonder if it would be easier if I'd never fell in love with her. It would definitely make it easier to concentrate in class, and would definitely help my sanity. But as I sit here now, I know that there is only one constant in my life. There is only one thing in my life that I'm absolutely sure of. The one thing I know is that I love Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer with every ounce of my heart.

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**Authors Note:** This chapter is all Brooke / Peyton / Lucas love triangle but trust me it's a long term Brucas. It's my shortest chapter, and meant as a history lesson on the changes.


	2. Changes

**Author's Note**: Thanks for all the Reviews, keep them up and I'll update quicker. This chapter has Pucas and Brucas. This is Brucas end game but Lucas is confused.

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**Chapter 2**: Understanding

I feel bad for Haley. When you see her at that table it's not hard tell how out of place she feels. She steals glances over at me every so often. Each time she does she tries to smile at me. Knowing Haley the way I do I can tell the smile is meant as an apology. She wants me to know that she misses me. The only problem is that were far past the point where a smile can fix what she's done.

I also feel bad because she also sends smiles at Nathan. Of course he's to busy glaring at me to see that. Even though Haley has abandoned me I just wanna go over there and punch him in the face. I want with every ounce of me to make him pay attention to her, instead of taking advantage of her.

If there was one advantage to my best friend joining the table of my loving siblings, it was that I had more of a chance to look at the two angels that occupied my thoughts and dreams.

How do I describe Peyton Sawyer? To the outside world Peyton Sawyer was the cheerleading, emo music loving best friend of brooked Davis. She was dating Nathan Scott, and had been for the better part of three years. To me there relationship made no sense, in fact the only time I see them talk is when there arguing. From what I can tell Peyton is close with Riley as well, as they seem to spend a lot of time talking. I can tell she doesn't like Haley, by all the insults she throws her way. Maybe if Haley didn't make her crush on Nathan so obvious, Peyton wouldn't be so jealous. Between Brooke and Peyton, Peyton was always the mysterious one. She has not spoken a single word to me in all these years. And she definitely has not done anything nice towards me. In fact the only interaction I've ever had with her is when she's laughing at me when Nathan pushes me around, or when Riley insults me. And if that's the way she treats me I cant help but wonder why I even bother. I remember the day my friend junk from the river court told me she had a web cam blog.

_(Flashback - River court)_

_"You guys remember Tom Dugan from grade school?" Junk asks while passing the ball to Fergie._

_"He used to live next door to you, right?" I ask_

_"Some guy snapped him with a wet towel, and he lost one of his testicles." At this everyone starts to laugh._  
_" Just saying what I heard."Junk responds with a frustrated tone_

_"Anyway, man, what you reading these days?"Skills Asks me._

_"Steinbeck, the winter of our discontent."I say while carefully adjusting the ball in my hands for my next shot._

_"Let me hear some."_

_"Nah."I say nervously. I always hate being in the spotlight. Except with basketball, this game is the one place I don't feel insecure. I can just play for the game. No pressure._

_" Come on, dog. You know I be reading vicariously through you."Everyone laughs at skills. But my attention is now drawn to the black car driving down the road beside the River court. More specifically I'm drawn to the blonde haired girl in that car._

_"Peyton Sawyer. You seen her webcam? In her bedroom, I hear she's naked on it, like, all the time."Junk says. I overhear him say it but my eyes are still drawn to that black car. As she leaves our sight I realize I'm not going to be able to concentrate on basketball anymore. At least until I have a look at this website._

I remember rushing away from the game we were playing, lying about have a cold. It seemed like an eternity, the time it took me to turn on my computer. Than another eternity to get the damn dialup to work. I found her blog without much difficulty though. And when I did the camera panned out to a feed of her room. The room was very dark, and had posters and drawings plastered all over the walls. Luckily it took only a few minutes for her to return to her computer, and when she did I have to admit it was kind of strange. She just sat there staring at the computer. From time to time she would lean her head forward and I assume she was drawing something by the pen she had in her hand. She looked utterly depressed. It was as if happiness had never known her.

I'm drawn to Peyton Sawyer for reasons I myself don't fully understand. I know that at one point I could say that I was obsessed with Peyton Sawyer. I could say it and believe it as easily as one draws in breath. It was my obsession for Peyton along with my love for Brooke Davis that was always the things I could trust in this world. But lately I find myself feeling something uncontrollable towards Brooke. I can't quite explain the change. The way people talk about Peyton I can't help but think how similar we are in so many different ways. I guess once the webcam brought me more insight into her life, and the years of her neglect started to wear on me, I find myself driven more and more away from Peyton. But as I sit here now looking at her, I can't help but be drawn even more to the impossibly perfect brunette to her right. And now that I think of it, my favourite moments of watching the webcam are when there's a certain bubbly brunette visiting.

How do I describe Brooke Davis? Infatuation. Lust. Complete and utter perfection. Every day I stare at her. Whether it was in our English class, our Biology Class I found my eyes were driven to stare at her like a moth to the flame. I long for the moments when she appears on Peyton's webcam. She's so carefree, and cheery. She lives a life I could only dream about. And unlike Peyton she has never joined in on any of the abuses I've endured througout the years. In fact I swear I've caught her smiling at me a couple times. And I guess those are the reasons why I'm drawn so much to her. Unlike Peyton she's spoken to me a whole two times in my life. Once to ask me for a pen in sixth grade. And the second time she talked to me was a year ago in grade nine, and I have no idea why she talked to me then.

_(Flashback – School)_

_I look down at my watch. And see that its only 3 minutes till class starts. The halls are empty, and I head towards my class. As I'm walking the doorway opens and into the empty hallway comes my angel. She looked gorgeous in her cheerleading outfit that hugged her curves in all the right ways. I hadn't realized, but I had completely stopped dead, and was now in the middle of the hallway staring at her._

"_Like what you see?"She tilted her head while she said it, and if it's possible I found her even more beautiful._

"_Umm…what do you mean…I wasn't staring "My mind is screaming that I'm an idiot. How could I have been so obvious? And for a guy who loves English class so much, I was now completely at a loss as to what to say to escape this._

"_It's ok. Really it is. I'd stare too if I were you." She gave me a smile that was full of her beautiful dimples, and my heart melted, and then she moved her hand to my shoulder."And since were on the topic. You're not looking so bad yourself baby" Her hand rubbed my shoulder softly, and my mind went blank. We must have stood there for ten seconds. She was flirtatiously rubbing my shoulder, and I was just staring at her. There were so many things I wanted to say. All I wanted to do was reach out and and kiss her but instead i said _

"_Thanks" I finally stuttered out. My mind screaming that i was an idiot. Of all the think I could say. I said thanks._

"_No problem Gorgeous. Oh by the way I…"She started to say until she was interrupted_

"_What's this?" At the sound of my brother's voice, Brooke's arm recoiled from my shoulder like it was bit by a snake. The horrible scowl on Nathan's face told me everything about what his reaction was going to be._

"_Nothing Nathan, just heading to class" She mouthed bye to me than she walked past me. I turned to watch her walk away but I was quickly halted by my brother. Who quickly proceeded to shove me to the ground._

"_Don't you know your place by now?" He hovered over me _

"_Nathan, I…"I started but I was interrupted again, this time by his foot to my rib_

"_What makes you think you have any right talking to her you bastard?"He gave me a what the hell is wrong with me look" No one cares about you. Just get it through your head and stop trying to be more than the pathetic loser you are."_

"_I didn't..."I started but was interrupted by his foot to my rib again_

"_You know what loser, I'm gonna let you off this time but if I catch you talking to Brooke or anyone above you again." He pulled out a thermos from his backpack and proceeded to pour it on me "It will be a lot more damage I do to you than just a dry cleaning bill" And with that he kicked my backpack than walked towards wherever the hell he had class today. _

Let me just say I don't know if I've ever hated a human being as much as I hated my brother Nathan in that moment. Even the constant name callings, and the occasional beatings he and his band of goons handed out to me on a regular basis haven't angered me as much as his interruption of my first real conversation with Brooke. His whole life must revolve around finding ways to hurt me. I suppose he has help from his sister and father. I can picture Brooke in that moment as clearly as if it was yesterday. Her voice was so sweet and simply being in her presence calmed me more then anything elce I've ever experienced in my entire life. I just hope I will get another chance to talk to her. Hear that Raspy voice flirt with me again, or the touch of her hand on my shoulder. I can't help but wonder what might have happened had Nathan not interrupted me. Would she have walked me to class? Maybe asked me out on a date? Ha, what's wrong with me, she probably just wanted me to do her homework or something.

"Hey dawg, what you doing? Skills says while sitting down at the table, partly obscuring my view of Brooke

"Reading" I say while taking the earphones out of my ear, and moving on the bench a little so I can get a better look at Brooke

"Nice, nice. I see you're talkative as ever Luke."Skills says while chuckling to himself, he doesn't seem to notice my eyes are not aimed towards him but over his shoulder at a certain brunette.

"I'm sorry skills, just kind of got a lot on my mind" I try to keep my attention to him, but I find my eyes roam towards the girls

"Well, at least your distracted by hot legs this time and not some dead white guys book" he laughs again, and at this comment my head snaps towards him

"Hot legs...what are you talking about?"

"Oh come on dawg you know exactly who I'm talking about. A certain curly haired blonde perhaps."

"Ya...I guess your right" I say it, but I'm not quite sure if it's the blonde that's on my mind anymore. Not when Brooke is wearing a skirt that leaves very little to the imagination.

"Ha. You bet your ass I'm right" He pauses for a moment to drink his Gatorade, and then he starts waving at someone behind me."Yo Mouth get your scrawny ass over here!" He yells causing most of the students on the quad to start staring at our table. Including a glare from my brother. Does he think that he's superman and he's going to shoot a laser beam out of his eyes, or is he just such a grouch that he can't even smile.

"Hey Luke" Mouth pats me on the shoulder than sits beside me "Skills, was it really necessary to yell at me now everyone is looking. I was coming over" Poor mouth has his head lowered a bit trying to hide himself, from the staring students.

"Oh whatever" Skills says while taking another drink of his Gatorade

"So, not that I'm not happy that I have company at lunch, but shouldn't you be eating your lunch at home" I point at skills" And shouldn't you be in the Media room buddy" I pat mouth on the shoulder

"Ya...well the media club broke up early today, and since the football team is at an away game. And the basketball team is suckling at Nathan, I wasn't really delayed by any bullies today."Mouth laughs while he says it but from the look in his eyes I know it's nothing even close to funny.

"Well, I may or may not have forgotten my keys at your house Luke" All three of us laugh at skills. At the sound of our happiness, Nathan sends me over another glare. His death glare is interrupted by the lunch bell going off. I watch Nathan stomp away from the table towards the school. I feel bad for Haley, because he doesn't even wait for her. I really can't believe how big of an asshole my own brother is.

"Let's go guys" I grab mouth by the shoulders and drag him along, while Skills follows behind as we head towards the school. As I'm walking I can't tear my eyes away from Brooke. It honestly can't be possible to be that perfect.

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The rest of the day goes by very slowly since I don't have any more classes with Brooke or Peyton. But eventually the day ends and after walking the three blocks home I walk in the front door, and see my mom at the stove."What are you making mom?"I walk over to the couch and turn on the TV. Not before I throw my coat on the chair, which is sure to get me a lecture from mom.

"Some stew. We're going to eat it tomorrow when you come by the cafe for supper."She sends me a smile than returns her attention to the stew

"Why are we eating at the cafe when we have such a beautiful dining table right over there?"I'm hoping she accepts my sucking up so I dont have to explain why I dont want to go to the cafe to eat.

"Luke. What's going on?"She turns around and gives me a comforting look. I guess I need to work on my sucking up.

"What do you mean ma, nothing's going on. I just don't feel like eating at the cafe with all the people around." I said it but even I didn't believe it. Id eaten at the cafe hundreds upon hundred of times.

"Ok, well if there's no problem then I'll just invite Haley over here for dinner."

"No!"I hadn't meant to yell it but, I really just couldn't stand the thought of Haley in this house. Especially when she knows I won't be rude to her in front of my mother. At the sound of my raised tone my mom seemed to bolt into the living room

"Is there something going on with you and Haley, Luke? She walked in front of the TV before she finished the rest of her speach."Because you two are best friends, you should be leaning on Haley not isolating yourself from her. If you did something to upset her just apologize and she'll forgive you. You and Haley have always been there for each other, don't you want to fix things?"Of course she would think I did something.

"I would if I could "I mumbled with my head down

"What did you say Lucas?"She said sternly

"Nothing I'm going to go out for a run I'll be back later." I stand up from the couch and grab my coat off the chair

"Lucas were not done here."Her voice wasn't angry, it was filled with understanding and it killed me to walk out.

"Ya we are mom."I walked to the door and opened it" Love you mom I'll be back in a bit "I knew I was being a spoiled little brat, but she could never understand my point of view without me tarnishing my mother's opinion of Haley. I knew how much my mom's opinion meant to Haley, and I loved her too much to put her through that. If only she loved me enough.

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They say you never appreciate the most critical moments in your life. The moments that decide the kind of person you're going to be in your life, are so often ignored as nothing of interest at the time. After I had run out of the argument with my mom I called up the guys and luckily they all could come out except for Jimmy who didn't even answer my call. We were shooting it around for awhile, well at least Fergie and Skills were. I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to shoot at the moment

"Yo Luke, where you at man" Fergie knocks on my head while the rest of the guys just laugh. I realize how stupid I must look. Standing to the side of the River court, ball in hand just thinking.

"No where...just thinking"

"Is this thinking gonna get sent into penthouse for publication my man" skills says while going in for a layup. This makes the whole group laugh, and I have to admit I join in. "common Luke lets shoot for teams, I don't have all day waiting for you to finish your sexual day dreams about Peyton" Though I have to admit my sexual dreams were more directed towards the breathtaking Brooke Davis as of late.

I chuckle while turning around to see Mouth sitting on the Bench gesturing for me to shoot the ball, so he can start announcing." Fine" I pause to take the shot. I release and as always it goes straight in. "Get ready to lose."

We continue to play for the next half an hour. Me and Fergie vs. skills and Junk, just another normal night on the river court. Just as I make another winning shot, I can't help but notice Keith's Jeep is parked aimed towards the court. Now that's not shocking, Keith and I are really close. I guess you could say he's the only adult male influence I have in my life. He stuck by my mom after Dan abandoned us. He's a really good guy and he even gave me a job at his auto garage when I had no knowledge of cars. I suppose he has stopped to watch us play basketball before. So I guess what's really shocking is that in the passenger seat is Coach Durham. The only times I've had any kind of interaction with Coach Durham is on a rare basis when he fills in as our teacher during gym class. He coaches Nathan, has Riley as a cheerleader, and coached Dan when he played at Tree Hill. So I can only imagine what terrible things he's heard said about me.

"Hey guys, why is Coach Durham with Keith watching us play?"I point over at my uncles jeep.

"Who knows Luke" Skills grabs the ball from me and starts dribbling in front of me "Now stop stalling and get back in the game. Unless of course you're afraid the Skills that kills is gonna smoke your scrawny ass" The game continues and I forget all about Keith and Coach Durham watching us. And when I drain another shot for the win I look back over and see that my uncles green jeep is nowhere in sight.

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**Authors Note**: Please Review, it's very helpful and makes me update sooner

**Dianehermans**: Glad you like Brucas like I do. Some Pucas is necessary, but trust me it's not the end game

**Brucas Lover 135**: Thanks. And yes just trust me

**Toddntan**: I tried to show that he has the River court gang in this one

**Sopiabush 123**: Ya Haley's a little misguided right now. I am a big fan of the Lucas/Haley friendship so expect it eventually


	3. Dreams

Authors Note: There some Brucas flirting in this one enjoy. Please keep up all the Reviews. There's some Laley Love in this chapter (enjoy it while you can next chapter is going to be drama filled)

P.S. I'm sorry for the lack of Pucas lol

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I'm sitting in English class, thanking god for a study period. I completed my work at home which I suppose is one of the joys of being an English nerd. Now that I'm finished I now have ample opportunity to just sit and pretend to read, while I stare over at her. She's sitting at the huge table across from the one I'm at, and she's surrounded by all that hates me. My brother has a scowl across his face. I wonder if it's because he's been so busy hating me all his life that he never learnt to read. I chuckle to myself and this causes most of my classmates to stare at me, I briefly catch her making a sideways smile at me before I lower my head towards my book again. I look back up and Riley is staring at herself in her little flip up mirror, while Brooke is staring over at me. I'm shocked at first, but before I'm able to smile at her or do anything I'm interrupted.

"Scott."Coach Durham walks into the class and barks out  
"What's up, coach?" Nathan turns around and asks the coach  
"Not you."He points at Nathan."You" He Points at me and too say I'm shocked would be an understatement. As I start to stand up Coach Durham points at Nathan "Read a book or something "I grab my books and start to follow Coach Durham's retreating figure. Before I leave her eye sight she sends me a wink and I can't help but smile, a smile that she clearly sees. Unfortunately it was a smile that was also seen by Both Riley, and Nathan. When I finally catch up with him I see he's heading into the gym." Nice, isn't it? A lot of people like their gyms loud. I like mine like this - quiet, clean... Kind of like a church. A lot of praying done here, anyway. You played ball in grade school. Why'd you quit?"  
"I didn't."  
" What, four guys in the park? That's not exactly basketball."  
"Then what do you think we're doing out there?"  
" I don't know. Planning a bank job? Look, I've got an opening in my line up, varsity." He picks up a ball and passes it to me" Chance of a lifetime. What do you say?"  
"I say I would have to be crazy to play in the same gym as the rest of them."

"You mean your brother and sister?" He sits down on the stands and motions for me to follow him "Or perhaps you also mean your ass of a father?" I let out a chuckle at that comment, and he reciprocates.

"I guess it's all of it. I'm sorry coach I appreciate the offer "I get up and start to walk out of the gym

"Lucas "He barks out

"Ya coach?"

"There's a spot on my team for you once you're ready. And just remember this isn't about them, think about what you want." I nod and then I walk out.

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I don't know how long I've been walking since I left the gym. All I know is it was last period and I need time to think. I wish I could confide in Haley, but she's probably waiting outside Nathans class hoping he'll walk her home. The first time I saw her waiting for him was long before she betrayed me and befriended my enemies. Watching her do it then was pathetic and sad, and that hasn't changed. I'm playing a game at the River court later so I guess I can talk the guys, but I should go and talk to my uncle Keith at the garage first. He's always good at giving advice, and I'm really in the need of some good advice. Oh shit, than I have to have dinner at the cafe. God why did I promise to eat tonight, Haley's going to be there acting all goody two shoes in front of my mom. I just really don't have the heart to let my mom know about Haley's recent behaviour, and I love Haley enough to protect her from that. Though a lot of the time I have to question why I do.

I arrive at Keith's garage. I check my watch and I have a good twenty minutes before I have to go to the cafe for diner. I see my uncle Keith working on a car, and start walking over to him." Hey Keith"

"Luke. What are you doing here?"He's a mess, it looks like he was swimming in an oil spill.

"Ya...I thought I'd stop by and check my schedule for next week before I went to the cafe for dinner."I'm playing with my fingers nervously

"How about we just talk about what you came here about."He wipes his hands with a rag while chuckling to himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Luke I haven't made a schedule, since the time we went to Disneyland and your mother said I couldn't organize our trip."We both laugh at that

"That was a great trip, uncle Keith."

"Yes it was. Maybe once the garage calms down a bit and you have a break at school we could go somewhere else together?"

"That would be awesome Keith. I'm sure my mom would love the idea."

"So not that I'm not enjoying our trip down memory lane. But you came here for a reason Luke." He sits down on the couch in the break room. And I plop down across from him at the chair at his desk.

"Well Coach Durham asked me to join varsity. Which I know you had a hand in by the way."

"That I did, and you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you would have to be crazy to waste your talent. You have a gift Luke and it's about time, you stop letting people steal that from you."He said it with some command behind it

"You know sometimes I would like to show them. Show them what a huge mistake they've made "I had my head in my hands.

"Nathan, Riley, and Dan?" He put his hand on my back

"Yeah."

"Well there's no time like the present to stop running from them." We sit there for a few moments. It's unbelievable how different he can be then his brother.

"Maybe...Thanks for the talk Keith." I pause for a moment. "You know what the good thing about Dan abandoning me is?"Keith shrugged" I got to have to you in my life. Thanks Keith...for everything."I walked up to him and gave out my hand, but he pulled me in for a manly hug."K, I'm off man Ill see you on Thursday for my shift."

Keith patted me on the back" Alright have fun at dinner Luke." I started to walk away when his voice stopped me "Just remember I'm always here if you need help, or you need to talk."

"I know. Thanks Keith" I waved and then left

* * *

It's only a 5 minute walk from my uncles garage to the cafe so at least don't have to rush. My uncle makes some good points, and maybe it is time for me to fight back against Nathan, Riley and Dan.

I've come to the conclusion that they must have had a pow wow at some time and decided that Nathan would be the all around bully to me. Dan would simply ignore my entire existence, and Riley would verbally harass me. Riley lives with Dan every other week, and the other week I assume she lives with her mom, at least that's what the rumours say at least. I've never had a constructive conversation with Riley so it's difficult for me to understand. My mother told me she had known Riley's mother in school and said that she was a horrible women. Apparently this Sherri woman had throughout my moms and Dan's relationship went out of her way to try and seduce Dan. And judging by the child they have conceived I'd have to say she succeeded in her temptation. Riley is the epitome of everything I'm not. She's dressed in expensive clothes, she's popular and on the cheerleading team. And of course she has a father who loves her, or in Dan's case love may not be possible. She's also extremely cruel, I remember the time as if it was yesterday that she had stolen a notebook I was writing and than showed everyone in school how I said I was in love with Brooke, and Peyton. It took weeks before the student body stopped laughing at me. The only people who hadn't laughed at me were Haley, the guys from the river court and now that I think about it Brooke. She hadn't once insulted me or laughed at me, in fact she had smiled at me a couple times. I wish I could say the same for Peyton who gave me this look like I was the most pathetic person on the planet for the first few days after. I turn the corner and walk down the sidewalk, the cafe is only a few buildings down. And that's when I see her. I quickly look around but all the buildings are closed for the night. I spot a garbage can, maybe I could jump in that to escape the embarrassment of her seeing me act like an idiot in front of her again. But it's too late, she spots me and gives me a smile and starts to head towards me.

"Hey gorgeous. What are you doing out this late on a school day?"She sits down on the steps of the building to my left and rubs the spot beside her, motioning for me to sit.

I should say that I'm heading to my mom's cafe, or maybe be clever and quirk me face at her and then say, I could ask you the same thing. But instead I stand there. And stand there. Second after second ticks off, and this has to be the longest anyone has not spoken in the history of the world. I'm getting more and more nervous, as the seconds tick off. I just have to say something, any words will do."I don't know "I finally cough out. Well I was wrong it would have been better to say nothing.

"You don't know why you're outside?"She gives me a confused look. And I don't think I've ever felt like more of an idiot in my life."Oh my god did you hit your head on a rock and now you have amnesia?"She starts to laugh and I'm helpless to stop myself from joining her. She motions for me to sit beside her again "Luke. I won't bite. At least unless that's what you're into, and even then only if I'm really drunk "She laughs again and I see her dimples in full effect again, and I become utterly lost in her beauty. I slowly make my way to the steps and take a seat beside her. "So Luke, now that you're sitting maybe your memory has improved. What are you up to out here?" She puts her head in her hands and stares at me. I've never seen her this close before, and she's even more beautiful then I could have imagined.

"Umm...my mom owns a cafe on this street and I was heading there to have supper."I blurt it out, no stops in between, just thankful I said something that made sense. She gives me a worried look

"I'm sorry Luke, am I making you late for supper?"She starts to get up

"No, no you're not. Definitely not my supper isn't for a little bit" I rush it out and I realise how desperate I must have sounded. She sits back down, except this time she's more laying down on the steps

"If you say so. Wait a minute, your mom is Karen?"She gives me a questioning look

"Yeah. How did you know?

"Well, I just came from there and she was closing up so she could get dinner ready for herself, Haley and her son. From the looks of Karen I figured she would have a sexy son. Looks like Brooke Davis is right again" She chuckles to herself, and for what seems like the millionth time tonight her laugh forces a smile out of me.

"What were you doing in there?"

"Oh I had stopped by to see Haley. I knew she was working their tonight, but I had no idea that she worked for your mom. I guess now there's no hiding from me." She put her hand on my leg and softly rubbed it. Of all the moments in my life I'm positive that Brooke Davis rubbing my leg was the best.

"I guess not" I'm staring her right in the eye, our faces are so close I can smell her. And she smelt as amazing as I thought she would. The vanilla smell she had would be stuck in my nose for days after, I'm sure of it. She moves her head forward, and I know what's she's waiting for. She waiting for me to move forward and kiss her. My heart tells me to kiss her. It's telling me to man up and fulfill every fantasy I've ever had. But my mind tells me to run, get the hell out of there. My mind and my heart fight a tug of war battle and the prize is Brooke Davis's ruby red lips.

Unfortunately my mind wins.

I stand up from steps and take a step back. I see the sad look on her face "I should be getting to the cafe, it was nice talking to you." I turn to start walking when her hands clasps my shoulder and turns me around. She stares into my eyes and I melt, I literally feel myself stop breathing. She puts her hand to my cheek and then moves her lips to me. I close my eyes anticipating the feel of her lips capturing mine, but instead she gives me a kiss on the cheek and steps back

"It was nice talking to you too Lucas "She smiles and it takes all my nerves not to grab her and kiss her right then and there. She starts to walk away, then stops and turns around "You know Luke, you're a really good guy. Don't let anybody make you think otherwise. And I know I haven't exactly been in your life. But I just wanted you to know that." She gives me one of her dimpled smiles and then turns and walks away.

I'm not sure how long I've been standing here but the fact that my phone has vibrated on three separate occasions tells me it's time to head to the cafe. I walk the rest of the way and then through the window of the cafe I see Haley standing head in her hands at the counter. I can see she's deep in thought and hasn't noticed me yet. She looks so sad and as always I want to hug her and tell her everything will be better, but that part of us is dead and buried. I walk in the cafe and her head shifts towards me, followed by a huge smile.

"Hey Luke. I was starting to think you weren't going to show" She laughs but I know her too well. She's just as nervous as I am. I didn't think I'd ever stop smiling after what happened with Brooke but I guess I was wrong.

"I almost didn't" I snap it out, and I hate that it comes out like that but she deserves it. I look around and can't help but notice my mom isn't around."Where's my mom?"

"Keith called and said he locked his keys in his car, so your mom went to get his doubles from your house."She keeps smiling and I can tell she wants so desperately to make things better between us, but she has to know that being nice to me when were alone hasn't ever been her problem.

"Oh. So I guess I'll go then."I turn to walk out

"No. Your mom said she would be right back. And this could give us a chance to talk. You know like we used to."She sounds like a broken little girl, and I hate that I still love her, even after everything.

"I know how we used to talk. And I also know the person you used to be" I'm angry and it comes through in my voice.

"Luke. I said I was sorry, what more can I say to make this better between us?"

"There's nothing more you can say Haley. It's about what you do and the person you've become is not someone I'm interested in being best friends with anymore."I see the hurt look on her face

"You don't mean that"

"Actually I DO mean that Haley. Nathan beats me up and you do nothing. Riley your new best friend humiliates me in front of the whole school, and you say nothing!" I'm nearly yelling now, and she looks like she's going to cry.

"Luke I'm sorry." She walks around the counter and stands in front of me "He doesn't like me I get it ok, I know I'm an idiot...I just... can't stop how I feel towards him. I hate how pathetic I've become."She has tears running down her cheeks

"If you don't like the person you've become then change it, because no one is going to do it for you" I'm calming down a little in the face of her crying

"I'm going to okay. I promise just give me one more chance Luke. I promise I won't hurt you again." Her eyes are pleading with me, and for the second time tonight my heart and my head are fighting a tug of war battle. She's balling at this point and at the sight of this my heart wins the battle. I grab her and take her into a hug

"Don't let me down." I pause and pull back and look her in the eye "Hales" I smile, and for a moment it seems like the world is peaceful. Like all my dreams are possible for the first time. I hear the door chime

"Well it's about time you two made up."My mother smiles, making me and Haley laugh. It seems like forever since I've heard her laugh, I've missed it.

"Ya, mom it's great. Now can we please eat I'm frigan starving." Haley laughs, and my mother scoffs.

"We are. I invited Keith to dinner as well" Just as she said that Keith walked in carrying a pie

"Thought I'd bring this, so I wasn't completely a moocher." We all laugh, and for the first time in what seems like forever, I have dinner in happiness. My dreams are coming true, I've got Haley back, and I'm getting ready to confront the evils in my life. And most importantly the girl I love is actually coming into my life.

It's funny how quickly dreams can fall apart.

* * *

Authors Note: Please Review, it's very helpful and makes me update sooner. Any Ideas you want to throw out there I'm open to hearing.

Dianehermans: Thanks again for the Review

Brucas Lover 135: Hope that suffices for the more Brucas you wanted. And I explained a little about Riley in this but she's going to remain a mystery for a bit longer. And as for Deb, I'll be talking more about her and Dan in the next chapter.

Toddntan: You're a trooper, another long review. Glad you liked the bad boy Nathan. Wasn't any in this one, but trust me next chapter will be drama filled and I have a feeling that bad Nathan may be very active.

Sopiabush 123: I changed my mind as I was writing the dinner how I wanted it to go. It was going to be drama filled but now the drama is next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it anyway

Cheeryxotigger: Thank you so much for the long review. I have to say I agree with basically everything you said. Glad to know you liked the Brucas Flashback


	4. The Lines Have Been Drawn

**Author's Note**: Here comes the next chapter. Thanks to all who reviewed, and please keep up the Reviews. Here comes some Drama.

* * *

I go to bed tonight after having one of the best days in my entire life.

I've been lying here in bed way to giddy to sleep for the past three hours. But really how could I not be giddy after the day I just had. Haley promised me she wouldn't hurt me again, and judging by the look on her face I have to believe her. I may turn out to be a huge fool for that, but I truly believe that Haley is sorry and won't ever hurt me again.

If getting my friend back wasn't enough. Brooke actually spoke to me again. She touched me, and oh my god she kissed me. When her lips touched my cheeks I felt so complete. It is without a doubt one of the happiest moments of my life. I have to wonder if she's lying in bed right now thinking about me, like I'm thinking about her. Or is she at some party getting drunk with the rest of them. I'm not crazy enough to believe that I know the answer to that question. But what I do know is that in the grand scheme of things I'm just some loser. She's nothing less then a goddess. The whole thing probably meant nothing to her. But I can't help but hope that for some reason she cares. That for some reason maybe cares enough about me to give me a chance.

I eventually find myself drifting off to sleep, and the final thoughts in my head are of Brooke Davis, and her ruby red lips.

* * *

I'm woken up by a knock on my door. I take a look at my alarm clock and see that it's only 6:45. Who the hell would be coming to my door at 6:45.

I quickly put a t-shirt on and walk to the door. To say I'm surprised when I open the door would be an understatement of epic proportions. "Brooke...umm, what are you doing here?"I stutter it out and I sound like a complete idiot. She smiles at me and I guess at this point she must be used to my idiocy.

"Well I was driving Haley to school today, and I couldn't help but notice how she actually had a smile on her face. So after doing some skilfull Brooke Davis snooping. I discovered that she had made up with her very sexy best friend."Her hand ran up my chest and I felt tingling everywhere."You know baby I'm sure she could wait like ten minutes if you want to go inside."She quirked her eyebrow and I blushed when I realized she was implying fooling around. There are so many things I should do. Anything that gets her in my room would be perfect. But of course I'm a scared virgin coward. So yet again I stand here staring at her beautiful lips curved in a very naughty smile, and I let my head win the tug of war.

"I...ah... think my mom might be home Brooke" Her smile turns to a pout and it takes all of my power not to kiss her right then and there.

"I guess I can accept that for now, Luke. Now get your stuff handsome, and let's head out" I turn to grab my books, and put my lunch in my bag. I turn around to head out the door, but instead I'm met with the sexiest image I've ever had. Brooke Davis is flopped out on my bed leaning on her elbows staring at me.

"What are you doing Brooke?"I said it very quietly like if I said it too loud, I might wake myself up from this dream.

"Oh nothing. Just checking the room out."She rolled over onto her back and checked out the other side of the room then rolled back onto her front "It's a very nice room Lucas."She started bouncing on the bed a bit "And wow this is a nice bed. I see definite potential in here handsome." She rolled to the side of the bed and held her hand out for me to grab. I stood there transfixed by the angel lying on my bed waiting for me to help her up. She looked so perfect lying there, with her lips pursed a little in a begging kind of way. "What did I tell you about me not biting Luke?"She held her hand out a little further. I walked over and took her hand. I swear I felt shocks at her touch.

I have no doubt this was a memory no one could ever take away. I'm sure that no matter how this ends I can be happy with just these fleeting memories. I pulled her up and she skipped over to the door holding it open for me, smiling the whole time. I smiled at her, and then went to walk out the door. As I walked by her I could perfectly smell her, she smelt absolutely perfect. And as I walked past her she grabbed my shoulder and stopped me, before giving me another kiss on the cheek. She smiled at me and then skipped in front of me towards her Volkswagen beetle. The car ride was a blur. It didn't seem real to be in the same car as Brooke Davis. I had forgotten Haley was even there until she started talking to me. As me and Haley talked Brooke just kept stealing glances at me, and I couldn't help but think. This was what I wanted. I wanted her. I needed her.

* * *

Brooke had dropped me and Haley off, and then left saying she had a hair appointment so she wouldn't be at school till around lunch time, if not later. I was half sad, half relieved. I was sad because I wouldn't get to see Brooke all day. But on the other hand I was relieved because I wouldn't have to wonder whether Brooke would walk with me to my class."What are you thinking about Luke?"Haley interrupted my thoughts with

"Not much just got some stuff I'm trying to decide on." We were walking towards the main entrance of the school. A school which looked deserted since we were here so early. It wasn't a good forty minutes until class, so me and Haley were going t have a lot of time to talk.

"Can I help you?"This was it, do I trust her or do I play it safe and make her earn my trust back. I did say I would give her another chance though..

"It's just, not really something I want to get out until I've decided what I'm going to do."My walls towards her were breaking down. She put her hand on my arm

"Luke. I promised you I wouldn't hurt you again." She looked me right in the eyes "I Promise your secret is safe with me." And with that she was in. I mean she looked me in the eyes and promised. No matter what she feels for Nathan, a promise made while looking me in the eyes has to beat that. For what seemed like hours me and Haley talked just like the old days. I talked about how I wasn't sure if I felt anything for Peyton anymore. We talked about how I was falling for Brooke more and more every day, and I wasn't sure I could stop. I was almost positive that I didn't ever want to stop. And finally I told her the big one. I told her that I planned to join the basketball team.

"You're going to join the basketball team? When did coach Durham ask you?"

"It was yesterday right near the end of last period. And you know what Haley its time I stopped running from my messed up family issues. And just did some things I want to do."

"Well if you're happy Luke. I'm happy for you. So what about Peyton?

"You know Hales for the longest time I was obsessed with both Peyton and Brooke." Haley nodded back at me."And then recently it just hit me. In the half a decade I've loved Peyton, she's never said a single kind word to me. She hasn't smiled in my direction. Not one nice thing. And when I think about it, Brook has gone out of her way to make me feel good." I never thought I'd be able to admit that I was over Peyton. I thought it would have been impossible to let her go, but I guess I've finally made my choice."So now that I've spilled my secrets Hales, how about you tell me something."

"What?"She asked me sounding puzzled.

"Are you really prepared to let Nathan go?" She lowers her head at my question. "Because that's what's going to happen if he sees us together again." I'm trying to be honest with her. I don't care even a little bit about Nathan. But if this is going to hurt her too much I'm willing to let her go so she can be happy.

"I...I Am Luke. He didn't care anyway." Her head lowers, and I hate Nathan for putting her through this. She shouldn't have to go running after Nathan, she's so much better than he ever could hope to be.

"You are a great person Haley." She looked up and hesitantly smiled at me.

"Even after everything?" When she said it her eyes were so sad I ignored every mean feeling I had about her.

"Yeah. Even after everything." I can tell from the look she gives me that shes skeptical about believing me. So I plaster the most sincere smile I can muster and she appears to believe me. I guess that's the joys of being honest all the time. When you do lie no one notices.

"Wow it must almost be school time" She says it and I scan the quad. The quad is now full of students. The bell going off signals the end of the conversation. I hadn't even realized how long we've been talking for, but the bell going off tells me we were talking for forty minutes. I'm really glad I have Haley back, I was really lonely when she was gone. I really missed my best friend. We get up and walk to our first period Biology class. This class unfortunately has everyone that hates me in it.

Me and Haley are the first to enter the class and we sit in the back two corner desks. Slowly but surely the rest of the Students start entering the class. Riley and Peyton enter the class side by side. As soon as Riley sees me she throws a glare my way before returning to her conversation with Peyton. When Peyton's eye catches my direction its like she's looking at a blank space. Theres just no recegnition in her eyes of me whatsoever. I wonder if she even thinks of me at all. At this point I wonder if I even care about her.

Watching her sit here now I can't help but think. I wish Brooke was here, I really miss her. Is it possible to miss someone that you've only been in actual contact with for a couple days? To me it's been years of obsession about Brooke Davis, but to her these past few days must have been the first times she's even thought of me.

The class has been on for ten minutes, and the teacher has been droning on about how stupid atoms collide. And that's when Nathan the great decides to come strolling in. He nods at the teacher who returns it. What kind of world is this? Because he wears the same stupid Tree hill basketball coat every day of his life he's allowed to come into class late, and never do his work? Surprisingly he doesn't send me his usual glare. When he looks at Haley beside me and smiles, I am so pissed off its not even funny. I look at Haley and she lowers her head to conceal her red blushing cheeks. When her face can no longer see, he turns his head towards me and smiles. Everything inside of me is screaming that I should go and beat the hell out of him for using Haley as some kind of pawn in his sick game of chess. But besides the fact that the teacher would probably help Nathan beat me up, I need good grades. I don't have bags of money waiting from daddy to pay my way to school.

The rest of the class goes by very slowly.

* * *

Once I escape the biology class the rest of my morning goes by quickly since I don't have any classes with Nathan or Riley. Unfortunately I also don't have any other classes with Haley this morning, thought she has two with Nathan.

I'm waiting out front her locker, waiting for her to come out of her class. When I do I get a sick feeling in my stomach. She walks out of the class and she's walking with Nathan. I quickly sneak around the corner and watch them walk together, until they stop at her locker. He's smiling at her, and then he puts his hand on the small of her back and I see her give him a huge smile. I could come out, give Haley the chance to keep to her word. But something tells me that wouldn't end well for me. They laugh and then start walking to the cafeteria.

I guess I'm eating alone again.

I'm outside sitting at my usual table, waiting for a sign of Haley. The rest of them are all sitting there. Riley sits beside Peyton, who's talking to Bevin and Theresa. All of whom are clearly trying their best to ignore Tim while he jokes with three guys from the basketball team. Riley's off in her own world texting someone. Then suddenly she looks up from her texting and looks at me. She gives me this crooked smile, and I can tell she's holding in a laugh. She then whispers something to Peyton, who looks over at me and laughs as well. Their laughing causes the whole table to stop their conversations. After a minute or two whatever Riley had told to Peyton has spread around the whole table, causing most of the table to either be laughing or stare at me with pathetic looks on their faces. After a few more minutes of laughing the three guys from the basketball team leave the table. Of course not before they walk by my table and laugh at me.

Right about now I'm getting a horrible feeling in my stomach. It's clearly about me and though I have no idea what it is I can safely assume it isn't good. I glance over and I see that Riley is coming over in my direction. I'm hoping, I'm praying she's walking behind the school and this was just the direction she was going. Unfortunately my prayers are not answered when she plops down on the opposite side of my table staring at me." You must be living in some kind of fantasy world."She's laughing while she says it.

"Should I know what you're complaining about today?" I try to sound as confident as possible but I'm getting more and more nervous.

"Did you honestly think that Brooke felt anything for you except pity?"The moment it comes out of her mouth my mind processes a thousand different scenarios. Was Brooke just playing with me? Was she working with them to hurt and embarrass me? Did our talking and flirting mean nothing to her?

"What are you talking about Riley?"My battle to remain confident is collapsing as I feel like I'm being torn apart.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about loser. You know your whole loving Brooke thing. I'll tell you I had a huge laugh at your expense when I heard about this one. You do realize she's Brooke Davis right? What did you think she wanted with an unwanted, unloved bastard child like yourself?"My eyes are starting to water up at the sound of this.

"She wouldn't do that. You're just lying"I refuse to believe that Brooke would do this.

"Oh my god."She clearly notices my watering eyes, and sickly it causes her to laugh."She really got you didn't she. Crying like a little baby, this is priceless."She keeps laughing

"You're sick" I give her a disgusted look.

"Actually Brother. I'm perfectly healthy. All thanks to the wonderful health care provided by my father...So Luke how's the free clinic been treating you."She has the most twisted smile on her face, but her eyes are filled with pure hatred.

"What's wrong with you people? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"The way I see it, I'm protecting the world from ever having to know a pathetic loser like you. Now if you'll excuse me I feel like I'm getting poorer just by sitting here."She laughs one more time and goes to get up.

"How did you find out?"I'm hoping upon hope that there's some way at least Haley wasn't involved in this. I feel like I've lost everything and I really need for Haley to be still on my side.

"Oh Luke. What do you expect? She had a choice. She could either hang out in poorville with you, or she could hang out with people who actually matter."She sat back down and gave me another crooked smile."I can't take all the credit though. It was Nathan's idea I was just one part behind it." She put her elbows on the table, as if she was about to tell me a good story, instead of the disgusting one she was actually going to tell."It was pretty obvious once we looked at it, that you had only one real friend. You did have those losers at that scummy court you play on. But they weren't Haley were they. It was easier then we could have ever imagined. All it took was a few nice words from me, and a few flirtatious smiles from our wonderful brother and POOF. Years of friendship gone. Forgotten in the sake of being with us."

"But she..."I tried to speak through the tears that were now flowing.

"Oh yes. You're wondering about her apology. I won't lie to you, that was honest. But what else was honest was when she told Nathan everything you had said to her." She paused to take in my reaction. I was in tears at this point. Haley had looked me in the eyes and promised me. And now she had gone out of her way to destroy me. She probably broke our friendship for good all so she could have the chance to be close to Nathan. "Does it hurt Luke? Does it hurt to know that you mean nothing to anyone? Your best friend of years threw you away for a chance at the real life. One girl you love doesn't know you exist, and the other tricked you. Well at least you still have..."She paused while she pretended to think"Oh wait you have no one now." She gave me a pat on the shoulder before grabbing her bag and walking back to her table.

I put my head down into my bag and cried.

I cried for Haley's betrayal.

I cried because I had been born with relations to these deplorable people.

And finally I cried because I had meant nothing to her, it was all just a game.

I looked up and Riley was now in a normal conversation with Tim. I noticed that Peyton was sitting off to the side, and kept stealing sad glances over to me. A year ago those glances would have meant everything to me. But now they meant nothing. And that's when it happened. They say everyone has a breaking point. And I had reached mine. They walked to the table together. He had his hand on her back almost pushing her forward like she wasn't even human anymore. She looked like nothing more then a robot. The funny thing was she wasn't frowning. She was smiling. I looked around the table and I saw the sad look on Peyton's face. I had thought Peyton and Nathan had been dating but apparently my complete and utter lack of real conversations with them had left me a little out of the loop. Haley and Nathan just sat down at the table and went about conversations. Riley looked over at me and smiled. I knew that smile, she thought she had won. She thought she had broken me. I guess she's right in one way. I am broken. But the thing she forgot was that I now have nothing left, and that makes me very dangerous. I feel all the anger starting to build up in me. All the years of insults and bullying are finally reaching the surface. And that's when I do something I never thought I would have been capable of on this scale. I start moving towards there table, and stop when I'm standing right behind Tim. The whole table is staring at me. Nathan and Riley are glaring at me, the rest of them just look confused.

"I hate you" I'm staring right at Nathan. My voice is full of malice and pure hatred. But even using all the hate I feel for him doesn't completely show how much I hate him in this moment.

"Who do y..."Nathan starts to say but I interrupt him.

"I hate you" I'm still staring right at Nathan.

"Ya you said that already Loser."Tim spits out

"I don't care what you do to me. Beat me up, insult me I don't care anymore. I'm going to take everything from you."Nathan stands up and walks around the table towards me.

"You had better think very carefully about who you mess with loser. Remember you don't have a dad to pay for your hospital bills."This causes Tim and Riley to laugh. Haley looks scared, and Peyton looks at me with guilt.

"Is that really all you have? I don't have a dad. Because from what I've seen you don't have a mom." I think if I could go back in time I would have thought a little more before I said that. Or at least worked out in the gym for a few weeks. But I don't have a time machine so instead I got Nathan's fist in my face. At the first punch I reel back before sending a punch back at him. He dodges it and then punches me in the stomach knocking the wind out of me. As I tumble to the ground trying to regain my breath, he proceeds to kick me in the chest and ribs for what seems like forever. There's a huge gathering of students around the table now. Unfortunately its lunch time so anyone who is my friend went home for lunch or has utterly betrayed me. The kicking continues until finally a voice speaks out.

"Stop it!" To me the voice is the voice of an angel. I hear the footsteps from the voice getting closer.

"Stay out of this, it isn't your concern!" He screams it out. He's stopped kicking me and I start to regain my breathe. I try to pick myself up, but I fall back down. Then suddenly I feel her grab my arm and help me get up."Don't help him."Nathan barks it out like a command from a general."If you help him you're done, I'll make sure you're a loser just like the bastard is." She has me back on my feet, and I can now feel the blood trickling from what must be a cut on my forehead.

"You know what Nathan you're the loser."My angel defends me

"Your ruined now Brooke. You choose that loser over all this."He barks out. Brooke has a hold of me and is trying to help me away from the table. I feel a bust of adrenaline and I lunge at Nathan, but he just pushes me back down and kicks me again in the rib. Brooke gets me again and I resist less this time, so she's more able to get me away. Out of the corner of my eye I see the table. Riley looks shocked. Nathan looks enraged, Peyton looks guilty. And finally I see Haley's face. It is empty. Completely devoid of emotion, she looks like a shell of the person she was.

"Just leave him alone. All of you."She helps me walk away from the stunned table, and basically the entire school population that's now watching us.

"Wait Brooke "I whisper to her

"Luke."Her eyes are pleading with me.

"Just give me one minute. Please. I need to do this."She gently lets go of my arm and gives me a sad smile. I look at her straight in the eyes, and smile back at her. I limp back towards the table. Students are still loitering around the quad waiting to see what happens. My approach isn't missed by Nathan who stands back up

"Haven't you had enough yet loser?"He stands in my way but I walk around him and stare at Haley right in the eyes.

"How could you?"

"Luke..."Her eyes look sad and tears threaten to fall. But at this point I don't care anymore. Whatever tie existed between us is gone. Where once there was love and trust. Now there is only anger and betrayal.

"You know what you can say whatever you want because this is the last time you will ever speak to me. Next time you see me don't talk to me. Were done!"I yell it out and I see Nathan move towards me."I mean nothing to you. You mean nothing to me."The tears are pouring from her eyes. Normally I would have felt pity, perhaps wanted to hug her. But now I'm disgusted by her behaviour and I really don't care. I start to walk away.

"Luke...Please" She's begging me for forgiveness. But this time I don't stop I keep walking until I'm back with Brooke and she loops her hand in my arm and helps me to her car. The only noise now is Haley's crying and the hushed whisper of students. Brooke helps me into her car and then goes to her side and starts the car. The drive is silent. It isn't awkward or hostile, I feel completely at peace. Finally we stop in in a driveway of what I can only assume is her house. Her house is massive, bigger then even Dan Scott's house. I notice it has a big red door in the front. After a few minutes of sitting in silence she speaks out

"I'm really sorry Lucas."I look over at her, and she's crying

"Brooke, you have nothing to apologize for."

"I could have helped you. You've been going through this for so long, and all I cared about was popularity."Her eyes are so beautiful, even filled with tears. Maybe it was the adrenalin, maybe it was the bump on the head but I finally gave in. I moved across the center console of the car, and pulled her into me. She buried her head into my shoulder and cried. We stayed holding each other like this for what seemed like forever, until suddenly I felt her head pull itself out of the nook in my shoulder she had it in. "You should come inside. So I can clean you up" When she asked me I saw entirely different side of Brooke Davis. She looked nervous like she was scared I would reject her. This Brooke looked self conscious, and unsure of herself. I can't help but wonder if it was my presence that did that to her.

"I would but...wouldn't your parents be mad that there's a boy in your room?"

"My parents."She laughed, and I gave her a confused look." I haven't seen them in weeks. There not back for another month. And even if they were, I just want to help you Luke."I gave her an uncertain look "Please Luke "She gave me a pouty look, and with that my decision was made.

"Alright. I'll come inside."When I said it she leaned over kissed me on the cheek and then nearly jumped out of her door and skipped to my side of the car. She opened my door and held out her hand for me to take.

"Come on Luke" She smiled when I took her hand, and together we walked into her house. It was beautiful inside. Every item in the house looked like the most expensive on the market, but for some reason it also felt very empty and uninviting. As we walked up the stairs I noticed that all over the wall were pictures of the Davis's. The weird thing was they were always by themselves, only one picture did I see the three of them together in. And in that picture her parents weren't smiling at all. Of course it was hard to even notice them when Brooke Davis was in the picture wearing a red dress that framed her body perfectly. Something tells me Brooke Davis has had a much tougher life then she lets people see."So here it is "she said as we entered her room

"It's really nice Brooke."And I meant it. Unlike the rest of the house, Brooke had filled her room with vibrant colors and comfortable furniture. It was as if she was attempting to create an oasis in the middle of a desert. It was hard to ignore her massive bed. I'm sure you could fit three of my beds in hers, and have room left over. Just as I was lost in the thoughts of what has been done in that bed, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into an adjoining room, which was obviously her personal bathroom. She went into the medicine cabinet and pulled out an alcoholic swab and a small bandage.

"This is going to hurt" She was right. Applying the alcohol to my wound should have hurt me. But all I could feel was butterflies. I was lost in her eyes. Her body was rubbing against me causing me to tingle all over. She carefully applied the bandage to my wound, than smiled at me and kissed my forehead. I loved her so much in this moment. She took a step back and then walked back in to her room and plopped down on her bed. My body followed her, my mind screaming the entire time in nervousness. My heart was winning the tug of war battle now, and I can't say I'm disappointed by that. I stood in front of her bed, looking down at the gorgeous girl sprawled out on the bed in front of me. She sat up and looked up at me."Will you stay with me tonight" Her eyes were pleading. For the first time I saw her for what she was. I saw her as a beautiful girl who was so much more then the party girl that everyone thought. She felt self conscious, felt sadness. She just wanted someone to care about her. I looked down at her pleading eyes and finally decided to do something that I wanted. I walked towards her bedroom door. "Luke please don't leave "I looked back and she looked like she was going to cry. I didn't answer her I just closed the bedroom door and walked back towards her bed sitting down beside her. She had her huge dimpled smile on, and it felt really good to know that I could make her smile just by being with her.

"I'll stay." She gave me what I thought was the most beautiful smile anyone had ever given another person. She then leaned over and put her head on my shoulder. After a few minutes of this she pushed me back so that I was lying on the bed. She got up turned off the light and hopped back onto the bed. She lay beside me, her head on my chest and her arm wrapped around me. I put my arm around her and realized immediately how perfect it felt being with Brooke.

"Thanks Luke "She said into my chest

"For what?"

"For being a good guy "She looked up at me when she said it

"Anything for you. Pretty girl."She gave me another dimpled smile and then laid her head back on my chest, soon after we were falling asleep in each other arms. And I'm wondering how I got so lucky.

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**Author's Note:** Thanks to all who reviewed and put in story alerts, you're much appreciated here. Next chapter will be up shortly. Please review this one since it's so critical to how the rest of the story goes. Any ideas you can P.M. me or leave in your review. Ideas as well

Sophia bush 123: Another person who hoped for Laley friendship. At least there was some Brucas. Thanks for reviewing, your constant reviewing is very welcome.

Cheery&Broody: Well Brucas got much closer in this one. Thanks for reviewing, and please keep reading

BDavisLScott23: Glad you loved the Brucas eye lol (that's a good name for it). Hope you're not mad about the Haley, I just felt like in this story she's obsessed with Nathan in the way that Lucas was Peyton (gross) in season 1.

Brucas Lover 135: Well it looked like you were right about Haley, thanks very much for reviewing three straight times, very delightful.

The lines have been drawn


	5. The Calm Before The Storm

**Authors Note: Thank you very much for all the Reviews everyone. Well on with chapter 5. Lots of Brucas fluff.**

**The character of Nicole in this chapter will be explained in more detail in a later chapter. Don't stress to much about her for now.**

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**Chapter 5: The Calm Before The Storm**

I'm unfortunately awoken by the television. I look around and see Brooke lying on her stomach beside me. She's dressed in night pants and a very small tank top, which leaves much of her skin uncovered. She looks so perfect lying there, and I just want to reach out and touch her everywhere. She giggles at whatever is going on in the TV show she's watching, and I notice her butt wiggles when she laughed. I want to touch her so much, and almost uncontrollably my hand reaches out to touch her. Just at that moment she turns over and looks at me "You're up sleepy head "She flips around and moves closer to me resting her head on my chest. She intertwines her legs with mine and raps and arm around me. I put an arm around her and we lay together for a good fifteen minutes. Out of the blue she lifts her head up and looks at me and smiles. I'm overcome, and I do something I've wanted to do since I was in grade eight. I move my head towards her and kiss her. It's perhaps the most complete moment of my entire life. After a second I pull back, she opens her eyes a moment later and looks at me straight in the eyes smiling. She leans her head forward and crashes her lips into mine. The feeling of kissing Brooke Davis is something I can't explain, I feel tingling all over my body and I never want to pull away. I feel like an explorer who had searched his whole life for something and then finally found it. Her hands are running all over my body, like she's exploring every inch of me, and before I know it I'm moving my hands all over her body. Her skin is so soft, and every curve is perfect like it was carved by a god. She pulls her lips off mine for a moment and for a second I'm disappointed, that is until she connects her lips with my neck

"Oh Brooke "I hadn't meant to cry it out, and now I feel embarrassed. My embarrassment ends when she raises her face to mine and smiles at me, before taking my lips to hers again. She reaches towards my chest with her hands and starts to pull my shirt off. I'm so nervous I feel like I'm shaking, but I've seen enough movies to know what's going to happen. I help her take my shirt off, and then assist her in taking hers off which reveals a lacy black bra underneath. She puts her lips back on mine and I feel her reaching for the hem of my pants when were interrupted by my cell phone going off. She pulls her lips off mine

"Luke you sho..."She starts to stay until I stop her by crashing my lips back on her. She grabs the back of my neck with her hands and pulls herself closer to me. Her one hand lets go of my neck and starts moving towards my pants again, but were interrupted by my phone ringing again. At this Brooke pulls away from me and smiles. That's a smile that tells me that I should answer the phone. I get up from the bed still shirtless

"Oh my god "I'm so mad right now. I get maybe one call a week and whoever is calling chooses to call me at the best moment of my life. I look back over to Brooke, whose sitting on the edge of the bed. She looks perfect in this moment. Her hair is a mess from our fooling around, and of course her perfect breasts are barely covered by the black bra she's wearing. She starts to laugh. "How is this funny Brooke?"I'm trying really hard not to laugh, but I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face.

"How is this not funny?"We both are laughing when were interrupted again by the phone

"What the hell is wrong with this person" Brooke starts laughing again. I open up my bag and grab my phone, I see that I have three missed calls from my mom. Oh shit. How could I have been so stupid, I just slept at Brooke's house and didn't tell my mom? She's going to kill me, and if she doesn't kill me she's going to ground me for the rest of my life.

"Who was it Luke?"Brooke is standing behind me now rubbing my back which I had forgotten isn't covered by a shirt. Her touch sends tingles all over my body, and I never want her hands to leave me. I should feel scared of my mother right now, but instead all I can think about is touching Brooke. "Luke?"I realize I had been staring at her, ignoring her question. She's half laughing at me again.

"It was my mom."

"Oh. Mothers and I have never went well together "She laughs a bit and I'm helpless to not laugh with her."Well, I guess I should take you home."The only thing I want is to stay here with Brooke but I know I can't, I have a mother whose probably worried sick right now.

"If you don't mind"

"Of course I don't handsome." She looks over at her alarm clock and then turns back to me and quirks her eye at me

"What Brooke?"

"Well you see Luke. There's this thing today called school, and it doesn't start for like two hours. So I'd say we have a good fifteen minutes before we should leave to go see your mom "She curves her smile at me in a naughty way. I don't answer her, I just crash my lips back onto hers. Were standing in the middle of her bedroom making out for a good minute until I can't stand it anymore. I pick her up by the butt, still kissing her. She pulls back for a moment while I'm holding her in the air "Lucas, when did you become so wild "She doesn't wait for an answer just puts her lips back on mine. I carry her over to her bed and lay her down beneath me, our lips never separating. We spend the next fifteen minutes, just kissing and touching each other. I have to admit I'm disappointed that her hands never head towards my pants again, and I'm far too inexperienced and nervous to do the leading in that area.

"Oh my god Brooke your perfect" I kiss her, and then pull back, and flop beside her on my back.

"As much as I'd like to stay here all day we need to get you to your moms "She gives me a pouty face and I laugh.

We drive to my house, and it's nice. She's driving with her right hand, and she's holding her head in her left hand against the window. "You're so beautiful" Oh my god I can't believe I said it out loud, I'm such an idiot. She looks over at me and doesn't laugh she just smiles. A smile full of her gorgeous dimples. I'm thankful when she puts her focus back to the road and doesn't comment on my stupidity. She doesn't stop smiling I notice. You'd think that comment wouldn't mean that much to her, hell she's probably heard it a hundred times this week. I mean come on she's absolutely breathtaking.

She pulls up to the curb out-front from my house."Thanks Brooke, I guess I'll see you at school?"

"I can wait for you if you want Lucas."

"I'd like that but I don't know how long my mother's speech will be "She laughs, and as always it's contagious.

"Hey, I have my iPod. I can listen to music until your mom is finished with you."Her eyes are half pleading with me, and I can't help but feel so wanted when she looks at me like that.

"Then of course."I lean over and kiss her on the lips. Her arms go behind the back of my neck and I realize how heated this is getting. I start running my hand up her shirt, when I'm interrupted by a knock on the window. I turn to look and see my mother standing right outside the window. I lower my window.

"Perhaps if you could remove your hand from this poor girl's shirt long enough, you could join me inside." This will not be good. She walks back into the house, probably to get the shovel she's going to make my grave out of. I hear Brooke starting to laugh, and I look over at her shocked.

"This is not funny Brooke" I've got a smile on my face while I'm looking at her.

"It's a little funny "She bites her lower lip and it takes all my strength not to kiss her again. I open the door and then turn back towards her. She smiles at me and sends me a wink before shooing me away. "I'll be waiting Lucas."I close the door and start to walk back towards the house. Her voice then stops me "If she's coming back out here to kill me for ruining her son, then please could you like blow a horn or something."

"Where do you think I have a horn?"

"I don't know but that's not the point. You have to warn me somehow if she's on her way out here. I refuse to die for kissing my boyfriend."I can tell she had let the boyfriend slip out by the nervous look on her face. Sometimes I wonder if she's ever seen herself, because if she had she would never feel nervous. I lean my elbows on her window.

"Boyfriend huh."

"Well I was saying it as a figure of speech really, I didn't mean...umm well I want you to be, but I didn't mean you had to be or anything. If you don't want me that's cool I completely under...."She says it really quick and I can tell she's nervous, so I interrupt her

"Brooke. Calm down "I reach over and touch her hand"I've wanted you since I was twelve." Her cheeks turn red, and I honestly can't believe I just made Brooke Davis blush. I start to walk to the house, but first I turn around."Bye girlfriend." Before I turn around for the last time I see her face turn into a huge smile, and I feel complete. I open the door to the house and walk into the living room slowly, as if I'm waiting for her to jump out and hit me with a shovel. But she's not waiting with a shovel, she's in the kitchen making what appears to be a salad.

"Your girlfriend isn't joining us?" She says it without turning around.

"I thought it best she didn't mom. And her name is Brooke by the way."I say the last part a little harsher then I had meant to. I immediately regret it, I just have to hope she didn't notice.

"I don't have to say it right. You know why I'm upset right?" She turns around and stares at me while mixing the salad. I guess she didn't notice my tone, which is some good news before I die.

"I do mom and I'm sorry ok. It won't happen again, I promise." My eyes are pleading with her

"Alright. I just expect better from you." She turns back around and I'm completely confused. She should be freaking out at this point. I stayed out all night with Brooke and its obvious I was with her by her dropping me off at the house. And then of course there's the whole me feeling her up thing.

"It's ok?"I'm still completely shocked

"Yes its fine this time, but Lucas you should know better than to treat your girlfriend like some prostitute. I taught you better than that. What will the neighbours think of her if you're treating her like that?" It's at this point I realize she doesn't know about the sleeping at Brooke's house, she just thinks I snuck out to make out with her this morning. Not that my mom imagining me making out with Brooke is any better for her but still. That mental image is surely better than the one she'd have if she knew the truth."And I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing about her. I thought were close enough that you could tell me about the things going on in your life."She gives me a hurt look

"We are mom. I'm really sorry."

"I know you are Luke. But as punishment to the two of you, she has to come over here for dinner tomorrow."She says it sternly and I know there's no point in fighting it. My mom won't take no for an answer.

"Umm ok."I'm still not quite recovered from the shock of getting away with sleeping with Brooke. I hope Brooke won't be mad she has to come to dinner here. My mom then puts down her salad and sits at the dinner table.

"Lucas there's something I need to talk to you about though. Come sit down."I join her at the table. I knew there had to be a catch. Karma couldn't let me get away with this completely.

"What is it mom?"She has a worried look in her eyes, and not that it takes a lot for my mother to get nervous but it still makes me uncomfortable. She pauses for a few seconds and it gives my mind time to think of all the possibilities. Is there something wrong with my mom? Is Keith ok? Maybe something happened to Grandma, I know she's been sick lately...She interupts my mind rambling

"I'm thinking about going away for a few weeks. Well not a few weeks, it's actually six." I think she must see my confusion so she continues."Do you remember that culinary school I applied for in Florence?"I nod "Well they had an opening, and I've accepted it. I'll be leaving on Monday if I decide to go. What do you think Luke?"After taking a second to get over my shock I look at her and say.

"I think you should go mom. You've put your whole life on hold for me. It's time you did something for yourself."

"That's what Keith said."She kind of laughs a bit.

"Well he's right"

"Alright but if I do decide to go I'm going to have Keith drop by the house to cook you supper, and make sure your showering."We both laugh

"What about the cafe mom?"

"Nicole will be fine for six weeks without me. Besides I have dependable employees like you and Haley to watch out for it now don't I?" At the sound of her name I become angry.

"Yep. Very dependable."I lie through my teeth. If only she knew the truth of how truly dependable Haley was. At least the cafe will be safe in Nicole's hands. I don't know how well it would do if it was just Haley. Who knows she might sell it to star bucks or something.

"You sure you're ok with this?"She gives me a questioning look.

"Of course mom. I want this for you."She nods. And I really am ok with this, if anyone deserves to have this it's my mom.

"Well you better get going to school. I see Brooke is still outside waiting for you." I turn around and look out the window.

"Ya she is "I'm smiling and the sole reason is Brooke.

"I can see she makes you happy. Remember Lucas, your happiness is the most important thing to me. But I also have to make sure you don't make the same mistakes I made." She gives me a look and I know what that means. She wants to make sure I don't knock up Brooke and then become my father. I grab my bag and kiss my mother on the cheek

"Thanks mom. I'll see you after school."She waves goodbye, and I'm out the door. I quickly run to Brooke's car. I look in the car and see her with her headphones in her ear. She's singing in the car to whatever is playing on her iPod. I quietly rest my hands on the window of her car, and watch her sing. After a few minutes of watching her, her dancing head moves my direction and she sees me. She immediately throws her headphones off her ears and looks at me non-chalantly.

"Hey. What's up?"

"What's up is you're busted "I'm laughing at her now, but she looks at me with a confident expression.

"Oh you can say what you like, but I'm a brilliant singer."Her confidence clearly remains, but a small smile has started to spread on her lips.

"I can't deny your brilliance"

"No you can't. Now get in boyfriend." I open the door and plop in. It feels so good to hear her call me boyfriend. We sit in the car for a moment in calming silence until Brooke breaks the silence "So are you going to tell me what happened?"She tried to sound confident but I could see from her eyes that she was very nervous.

"She was really mad "I saw her face drop and she gulped.

"She was?"She had her head down when she said it.

"Yes she was."I couldn't take seeing Brooke sad anymore so I ended the charade."She said I shouldn't treat my girlfriend like a prostitute by making out with her outside my house in your car." Her head popped up and she looked at me confused

"Wait. What?" She looks really hot when she's confused.

"She thinks I snuck out this morning. She had no idea I slept at your house." She punches me in the arm

"Lucas Scott!"She yelps out

"Hey now no violence."I rub my arm as if her punch hurt me. She pouts her mouth and puts her arm out and gently massages the area she punched me.

"I'm sorry baby. I didn't know you were so gentle."She lets out a small laugh

"Well now you do."I move forward and kiss her on the lips. A kiss which she deepens, and before I know it she's crawling her hands up my shirt."Brooke "I moan at her, her hands make me feel so good, and her lips are so soft. She then pulls back much to my displeasure. Kisses me on the lips quickly then moves back to her side, and starts the car.

"Alright time for school" She starts driving and I can't help but fall more in love with this crazy girl. There really is no one like her. After five minutes of driving she pulls into the school parking lot and parks. My palms are sweating and it feels like my heart is going to burst from my chest. I feel myself getting more and more nervous every second. And that's when I feel a soft hand touch mine."It's going to be ok Luke."She smiles at me and the nervousness somehow subsides a bit. She leans over and kissers me on the lips. It's a kiss that makes me feel so wanted and safe that I know I can survive this day.

"You ready Brooke?"A part of me wants her to say no so I don't have to deal with all the fireworks that are going to go off today. She looks at me and must be able to see the confusion written all over my face. She gives me a dimpled smile, squeezes my hand and says.

"Let's go boyfriend."

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**Authors Note: This chapter was some Brucas love before some big stuff happens in the next chapter. As always please Review their very helpful, I love ideas.**

**Sophiabush 123**: Yes the school scene is clearly the next chapter but I wanted this chapter to show Lucas and Brooke happy for at least a little bit.

**BDavisLScott23**: I'm glad you loved the chapter. As for what's wrong with them, it has a lot to do with Dan who is going to make his first appearance soon. Riley has issues is all I'm going to say

**moonkisss****: **I really wanted Lucas to hit rock bottom and have Brooke be his only support at school. (Except the river court guys of course)

**Brucas Lover 135**: Ha it got heated in bed so hope that was enough for you for now lol

**Cheery&Broody:** I'm glad you loved the chapter. I debated a couple times who I wanted to help him but in the end it had to be Brooke.

**BrOoKe DaViS23**: Thanks for the review

**toddntan**: Thanks a lot for the Review Todd, I always enjoy your reviews.


	6. The Storm

**Authors Note: **Thank you very much for all the reviews last chapter. Review wise that was my most popular chapter so far. I'm sure we can beat that with this one.

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**Chapter 6**: The Storm

I'm standing on a court that has been my safe haven for almost the entirety of my life, and I feel out of place. The fact that just knowing he's coming makes me unnerved is making me more and more nervous every minute. Just when it seems I'm about to explode from stress I see her. There must be something wrong with me when a smile crosses my face just by seeing her beautiful face. She's sitting on the park bench along with Jimmy and Mouth who are getting there mic ready for the podcast there doing. It's funny how much her simple presence calms me down, and before I know it I'm practising my three pointers. As I'm finished making yet another three pointer I hear mouth speak out.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to an historic night of basketball. I'm Mouth McFadden, along with my gamey partner, Jimmy Edwards, and, Jimmy, we're in for a treat tonight."

"And who doesn't love a treat, Mouth? I know I do. S'mores, ice cream, cake." At Jimmy's commenting I start to laugh. If they could see themselves I'm sure they'd laugh too. Of course with their announcement, the time of denial is over. This is actually going to happen, I'm going to play Nathan for the right to play on the team. My hands are clammy, and I feel like I'm going to shake out of my shoes I'm getting so nervous. It doesn't surprise me that Haley hasn't arrived yet. She's probably with Nathan right now wishing him good luck. Just as I'm starting to get really down I feel her gently grab onto my hand. I look to my left and she's smiling at me, and in that moment I know I can do this. God I love this girl.

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Fifteen hours earlier

"Let's go boyfriend "She's smiling and gently holding my hand while she says it.

"Do we have to I'm sure I could think of much more exciting things we could do" I move in and kiss her on the neck. I hear her let out a moan and I'm hoping that works at convincing her.

"Very tempting Luke "She takes her hand to her chin as if she's thinking about my offer" Nope not going to work. Let's go."She kisses me on the lips and then starts pulling me along across the quad towards the school. As we walk across the quad or should I say as she pulls me behind her across the quad. I could feel every pair of eyes on me, and I could hear all the whispers.

"What is she doing with him?"

"I heard he went to jail for a year"

"His father never wanted him"

I heard his best friend chose Nathan over him"

"Nathan is going to kill him when he sees this" The whispers really start to get to me and I lower my head to look at the ground. And that's when I feel her stop. I look over at her and she has her naughty smile on. I give her a confused look, which she cuts off with her lips. She kisses me with so much want that I can't help but reciprocate. Her lips tasted so good and before I knew it our tongues were battling each other for entry. I can hear all the whistling, and uhhs and awws but in this moment I really don't care. I can barely hear anything over my mind screaming at me to crawl and hide in a dark hole for a few years. More quickly than my body wanted she pulls back looks me in the eyes and smiles. Then she grabs my hand kisses it and starts to pull me along again. Once we reach the door to the school to say we had created some gossip would be an understatement, I doubt there's a student who wouldn't be talking about it over the course of the day. We stop out-front her locker.

"See Luke that wasn't so bad."She lets out a little laugh when she says it. I smile back at her

"Oh no, that went well."

"Look at it this way. You got it out of the way, and pretty soon they'll be something else to gossip about." She's rubbing my arm, and despite the hallway full of staring and whispering students she calms me down.

"Yeah... I'm sure us making out in the middle of the quad and my blow up yesterday with Nathan will be forgotten very soon."I laugh, and she covers her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh

"You know Luke. You make me happy, and for me that's all that matters. I don't care if your dads an ass" We both share a small laugh "I don't care if you're on the basketball team. I don't care about any of that as long as were together.

"How did I get so lucky? I mean I must have some kind of crazy leprechaun helping me to get the girl I've wanted since I was twelve "I smile at her but her head kind of lowers.

"You mean Peyton?" I'm shocked at her saying this. Not that I can exactly blame her, most of the school has thought I've been obsessed with Peyton. What most didn't understand was how I loved them both. And they definitely don't understand that I only love one now. I go to answer her

"Listen Brooke y..."I'm interrupted by Skills

"What's up Luke?" He puts out his hand for a high five, and I reciprocate. He then notices Brooke hidden in front of me, and I see the nervousness cover his face. Me and him aren't exactly in the in crowd so I don't blame him for being nervous. Hell I'm still uneasy about the whole thing. Brooke must notice the nervousness so she jumps in.

"I'm so sorry, what's your name again?"She holds her hand out for him to shake.

"Umm...it's Antwon Taylor "He takes her hand and I feel the mood lighten a bit.

"Antwon?"I look at him confused "Since when are you using Antwon again? I haven't called you anything but skills since that week you watched Shaft and wanted all of us to call you Shaft."At this we all laugh, and I can't help but sense all the shocked students around the hallway.

"Hey Shaft was cool man."Were all still laughing, he glances back at Brooke "But I guess he's right. You can call me Skills "She nods and goes to say something when the bell rings. Skills looks behind him at his class

"I'm off, talk to you two later."He waves and then retreats into his class. I look back at Brooke

"Listen Brooke. About what you said earlier, you should know tha..."She pulls me into a kiss

"It's ok Luke. We can talk later."She kisses me again "I have to go to the exciting world of social sciences."She rolls her eye, and I give her a small smile "I'll see you at lunch?"She asks me and I'm confused. Of course I want to see her at lunch

"Yeah of course Brooke. I'll wait at your here at your locker for you."She nods kisses me on the lips and walks away. I am so confused right now, but I don't have time to stop and think I need to head to Biology. I wouldn't want to miss my time with Nathan and his lackey's. I'm almost at the door, when I see Nathan and Tim walking towards the class about the same distance to the door as I am. I start to slow down so I don't have to worry about him, but I must catch his eye and he quickens his pace towards me. He's glaring at me and I have to admit he's really intimidating when he glares like that. He stands in front of me and grabs my collar

"So you got the girl. Or should I say you got the slut."He eyes me and gives me a sadistic smile. I try to struggle from his grip, but Tim comes up beside me and holds my arm so I can't move. It's funny how all the students don't even slow, or say anything they just keep walking towards their respective classes.

"Don't talk about Brooke like that you know nothing about her."

"Oh I don't. So I wasn't there when she did a strip tease at Feta's sweet 16 party."He gives me a crooked smile, and Tim laughs "Or I wasn't there when she's come walking down the stairs after fucking one of her countless fuck buddies. Dude she's fucked half the god damn male population of this school. Face it Luke she's a whore." Time laughs in my face, and I try to break free.

"I said don't talk about her like that "I push him off me and go to punch him in the face when I feel someone grab my hand.

"Class. Now!"Coach Durham yells at both Nathan and Tim. Tim scurries immediately into class while Nathan throws me a cocky smile before retreating into the class."What was this Lucas "He gives me a stern look and for the second time in the past 2 minutes I'm intimidated.

"It was nothing coach Durham" I lower my head to avoid his stare.

"That was definitely nothing son. And you know you're about the only student at this school who doesn't call me Whitey."He laughs

"I kind of thought that was only something your players called you "It's funny the effect Coach Durham has. One minute he can be yelling at you and you think he hates you. And then the next he's making a joke and patting you on the shoulder.

"Well like I told you before. You have a spot on my team once you decide your ready for it." He puts his hand on my shoulder."Now get to class. And ignore your brother "It kind of stings hearing Nathan referred to as my brother, but I guess he is so I should get used to people saying it. I walk into the class, and as soon as I do I see Nathan's crooked smile, Tim's laughter, and Riley's manipulative smile. As I walk closer to my seat I can't help but regret coming to class today when I see the final member walk in. Of course she wouldn't even bother moving seats. Like who cares about how I feel about being in the same class as Haley let alone sitting beside her. As unbelievable as it is she smiles at me when I walk in front of her trying to get to my seat. Who does she think she is, I told her we were done, doesn't she get that? I plop down at my seat and I can't help but notice Peyton is now sitting to my left instead of upfront beside Nathan. I guess Nathan and Peyton's breakup might be a little uglier than I thought. I take out my textbook and lower my head to start reading along with the teacher. This goes on for the next fifteen minutes, the only sounds I hear are the clock ticking and the teacher droning on about non sense. I wonder if this teacher was hired just to give Nathan good marks, because he definitely wasn't hired to teach. Then I feel a hand on my arm. I look to my left and see Peyton leaning over towards me. Just like her sad look at the table during my fight with Nathan, two weeks ago this touch would have sent me into euphoria. But now I can only think of Brooke, she's overcome me and I'm obsessed with every part of her.

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday "She whispers while giving me a comforting look.

"It's fine "My voice has no emotion. I don't know what she expects, she hasn't said one nice thing to me in years and now she wants to be supportive. I could have used her support yesterday. Hell Brooke her best friend needed her support yesterday and she didn't say a thing. I lower my head to my book again.

"Well I just wanted you to know I'm sorry."She sounds hurt and I turn to look at her. I really don't understand this girl.

"It's fine really I don't blame you."She gives me a thankful look, and then goes to say something

"Is it ok if I continue or do you two need a few minutes to talk?"Mr Broderick says. My head bolts up to see him standing at the front staring at me along with all the other students. Nathan is giving me his superman death glare, while Riley is giving Peyton a disgusted look.

"I'm sorry, Mr Broderick. It won't happen again "I rush it out hoping this will just go away. I see Peyton nodding in agreement in my peripheral vision.

"See to it that it doesn't. You could really take a pointer from Nathan on how a student in this class should act." I honestly can't believe he said that. I have a ninety two in this class, I've never missed a class, and I always do my homework. Nathan misses class, comes in late, and is a moron. That's someone I should idolize. The rest of the class is a blur.

* * *

Finally third period ends and its lunch time. After first period Biology my mornings usually go by quick since I don't have Riley or Nathan in any of my classes. Of course today went by a little slower since Peyton kept stealing glances at me in our second period Math class, and third period American History class. I'm waiting our front Brooke's locker when I see her bouncing down the hallway towards me. She's smiling at me and it never fails to amaze me how much she can make me smile. She jumps into me and kisses me on the lips."How was class boyfriend?"She kisses me again before pulling back and smiling at me.

"It was ok. I missed you."I can tell I probably look really sad when I say it and I hate that. I want to make Brooke happy I don't want her to be depressed when I'm around. She must think I'm such a complainer, considering that's all I hear myself do around her.

"Tell me what happened Luke."She hugs me and then pulls back and starts rubbing up and down my chest. I feel myself wanting to ravish her instead of explaining how my morning went. Her vanilla body spray is driving me nuts, while it doesnt help that in the position I'm in I can very clearly see down her shirt.

"It was nothing. Nathan just stopped me outside of class and was..."I stop when I realize I don't want her to hear those words come out of my mouth. I could never validate Nathan's lies by telling them to Brooke. Plus if I told her she might think I agreed with him, when I deffinetly don't. She gives me a confused look."He was just insulting me about Haley that's all."She gives me a comforting look and then pulls me into a hug. I may not have known the Brooke Davis who partied all the time but I do know this girl, and she is no whore. She honest and funny and one of the best people I've ever met.

"I'm sorry things are so hard for you Luke. Haley doesn't deserve you."She pulls back and gives me a reassuring look."Come on Luke lets go get something to eat."She grabs my hand and kisses it, before pulling me along behind her. She starts walking towards the exit of the school.

"Brooke. The Cafeteria is the other way."I say confused

"I know but that food is disgusting "She turns around and puts her finger in her mouth. That makes me laugh."We can eat somewhere much better."

"Where would that be?"

"Oh I know a place."I look at her with uncertainty written all over my face."Trust me Luke."And with that I let her pull me along to her car. She starts up her car and pulls out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of downtown.

"So where we going crazy girl?"

"Luke Luke. Just enjoy the suspense of not knowing. I wouldn't take you anywhere bad would I?"She has a naughty smile on her face, and I can't help but love this crazy girl even more. I see her starting to pull over on the side of the road out front my mom's cafe and at this point I'm confused.

"You want to eat at my mom's cafe?"I'm still confused at why she'd want to eat at my mom's cafe considering what happened this morning. She turns off the car and looks over at me

"Listen Luke. I'm not exactly thrilled about eating here since just four hours ago your mom saw you feeling me up."We both share a laugh "But you're important to me Lucas. And she's important to you, so I really want her to like me." I smile at this girl that has basically come into my life two days ago, and is now sitting here trying her best to take care of me."And plus I've eaten here before. This food is totally better then the cafeteria food.

"Alright then." I move across the console and connect my lips with hers. She grabs the back of my neck and I can tell where this is going. But before I start feeling her up again, and possibly my mother catches us again she pulls back and hops out of the car."I guess that was over "I look down at my pants "At least for one of us "I'm talking to myself now as she's skipping to my side of the car.

"What you say sexy?"She looks at me confused

"Oh nothing. Let's go."She opens the door to the cafe for me and we walk in. The door chime signals our arrival and I immediately hope my mom has went home for some reason, leaving only Nicole who's much less motherly. Unfortunately my hoping fails when I see Nicole and my mom joking at the counter. Here goes nothing.

"Hi ma."At my voice her eyes look over at me before noticing the beautiful brunette to my right.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?"She speaks in a very kind voice and for that I'm thankful.

"We thought we'd eat some actual food for lunch."I notice Brooke standing beside me. She looks like she feels out of place. It always confuses me when she looks that way, she's gorgeous, funny, and from what I've seen there's nothing she isn't good at. I just want to reach out and hold her, whisper how she's perfect. But unfortunately I think that might make things worse for some reason.

"And you must be Brooke."My mom looks lovingly at Brooke when she says it, and I'm thankful my mother is such a nice person. I see Brooke perk up beside me

"Yes...Brooke that's me "She laughs. I love it when she's nervous. If it's possible she gets even hotter when she's nervous."It's really good to meet you Mrs' Roe."

"It's Karen. Ms Roe makes me sound very old."We all share a laugh

"That's because you are old Ma" Brooke smacks me on the arm, my Mom and Nicole just laugh

"Lucas "Brooke scolds me."Your mother is not old, for your information she's very attractive."Brooke has her arms crossed but she's smiling

"Well thank you Brooke."My mom is smiling at Brooke.

"Yeah thanks. I really need to hear about how hot my mom is."I put my finger in my mouth, causing everyone to laugh. The rest of the lunch is pleasant. Me and Brooke talk, while my mom comes over and joins us whenever she doesn't have too many customers. I'm really glad my mom has taken to Brooke, from Brookes speech outside I know how Important that was too Brooke.

"Well Mom we should be heading back to school."I get up from the counter, causing Brooke too follow suit.

"Alright then. It was nice having you two for lunch."She smiles at us, and then turns to Brooke "It was good to meet the girl who can make my son smile again."I look at Brooke and she gives a full dimples smile.

"Thanks Ms Ro..."My mother gives her a sideways look "I mean thanks Karen."My mom nods and we walk out. As soon as the door shuts Brooke jumps in the air and squeals.

"I'm so glad she didn't kill me. I think she may have even liked me."She grabs my upper arm as if to hold herself up.

"You seemed to make quite the impression. You may give Haley some completion for my mother's heart."We both laugh

"Like I can't beat tutor girl "We both laugh, but I start to feel sad at the mention of my former best friend. Brooke must notice that because she pulls me into a hug."Come one Broody. Let's go to class can't let anything ruin my high right now."I notice she called me Broody

"What did you call me?"I'm half laughing that she used that word, half wanting to know her explanation.

"You're a brooder."She says it like it's the most known fact in the world "You think all the time. Therefore you're a brooder."She moves her face closer to mine."You're my Broody."She kisses me on the lips passionately. Somehow we make it out of our kiss out front my mother's cafe and reach the school.

* * *

Our arrival on the quad isn't met with the stares and whispering it might have been five minutes earlier. Luckily its five minutes till class starts so everyone is now inside loitering the hallways except the druggies. But of course there to medicated to even recollect that me and Nathan fought yesterday. When we enter the school we head to my locker where Skills is standing waiting for me.

"Hey Skills."We pound fists

"What's up Brucas?"I look at him confused while Brooke just laughs

"Oh come on Luke, you know how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are Branjelina?"I give him a confused look. "Well you see you put Lucas and Brooke together and you get..."I'm still giving him a confused look "You get Brucas. Come on Lucas get out your hole in the ground and watch some TMZ."He crosses his arms at me while Brooke just continues to laugh.

"Listen Skills I don't know what I find more disturbing. The fact that you knew the Term Branjelica..."

"Branjelina!"Both Brooke and Skills say.

"Whatever...Or the fact that you watch TMZ."I laugh at him. He just scoffs at me

"Hey that shows funny."We all share a laugh "You ready for class Luke? Mouth said he'd meet us in there."

"Yeah I'm ready."I turn towards Brooke and smile at her bringing my lips close to hers."I'll see you in English class?"I bring her lips to mine and I hear Skills scoff.

"You bet your ass you will "I kiss her one more time before she skips off to her math class. I watch her walk down the hall. Her hips are swaying showing off her amazing body and I long to touch her body all over. She turns around one more time before she's out view and blow's me a kiss. God I love this girl.

* * *

I'm sitting in English now waiting for my girlfriend to arrive at class. God it feels so good to call her my girlfriend. She so perfect in every way, and I know I'm too young to say it but I want to spend the rest of my life with this girl. It's so weird to imagine a girl I've been speaking to for two days as my wife. But of course to me it hasn't been two days I've been imagining her for years. Nathan is the first to enter the class, and he sits in his seat right in front of me. Unfortunately in this class the students are assigned desks according to their last names. He glares at me and then sits down. Of course the next to enter is Riley who promptly sits behind me before beginning to talk to Theresa to her left. Haley enters the class next and she sits next to me on my right. God I hate that my unluckiness seems to always place her beside me. Not too long ago my only escape in class was when Haley was sitting beside me, now her sitting beside me is one of my worst nightmares. And then she enters the class. She looks like and angel, of course when she sends me a naughty smile I realize she just might be the devil. Of course I'd follow this girl to hell if that's what it took. She sits down at the front of the class a row to my left a couple seat up from where we are. She turns around and stares at me, smiling the whole time. Nathan then turns around and says to me

"You have to wonder how many guys she's giving that look to today."He laughs at me

"Shut up Nathan "I see Brooke giving me a reassuring look, and I feel it strengthen my resolve.

"Big talk for such a pathetic loser."I hear Riley and Theresa laugh behind me and I try my best to ignore them. Brooke looks over at me I can tell she's about to say something until I mouth to her it's ok.

"Whatever Nathan."He goes to say something but stops when the teacher enters the room. The teacher goes to his desk at the front of the class and then takes out a bunch of papers. He proceeds to pass them out.

"Today were going to continue our talk from last week about Earnest Hemingway. Early in his career, Hemingway was frustrated. He was a good writer who wanted to be great. And eventually, he discovered that less is more." The teacher pauses and looks around the class. His eyes finally settle upon Riley. "Riley. Describe Lucas using just one word. I turn around to look at Riley, as does the rest of the class. She looks at me and then smiles. "Loser."She gives me a sideways smile, while the rest of the class laughs.

"Okay, be quiet please."The teacher waits until everyone has stopped laughing at me. Brooke sends me a comforting smile. "Thank you. Lucas, care to respond and describe Riley?"

"Fake."The class starts with the Ooohs. Nathan turns around and glares at me. While I swear I can feel death beams going through the back of my head from Riley.

"Okay, be quiet please."The teacher says before walking to the front of the class. He turns back around and I see Nathan raise his hand "Yes? Nathan?" He looks straight at the teacher and says

"I can describe Lucas in one word. Bastard."The whole class is now freaking out with noise. I can't take it anymore, I refuse to be called a bastard in class. I refuse to accept that in the one class I feel a connection to he can have the ability to intimidate me. It has to stop now.

"Alright, alright, alright, alright."The teacher tries to get control of the situation, but I'm about to make that impossible. I'm jump from my chair and when he hears this Nathan jumps out of his. Before he can react I grab him and push him to the ground. The last thing I remember is raising my fist into the air and punching him square in the face.

* * *

"Are you okay Lucas?"She's rubbing my back lovingly while we sit on one of the park benches outside the school

"Yeah I'm fine."I then feel her hand pull away from my back. I look over at her and she proceeds to punch me in the arm.

"Ouch Brooke. What the hell."She gives me a look that says that was a really dumb question.

"How could you fight in class Lucas? You can't let them drag you down to their level. What are you going to do when your mother finds out? She's going to haywire at dinner tomorrow."She looks disappointed in me and I hope I never have to see that look again.

"I'm sorry Brooke. It just..."I pause for a moment I see that her expression softens. She puts her hand palm up on my leg waiting for me to take her hand. I do and I feel the softness of her hand, and as she always does she strengthens me."It really hurts to know that my own siblings can make fun of me for Dan abandoning me. I hate being known as a bastard."I'm almost crying and she pulls me into her and I feel the warmth of her body. It feels so right to be in her arms. She pulls my chin up gently and looks me in the eyes before giving me a kiss on the lips.

"You know they don't actually believe that. Dan just has so much influence on them. And you know what else?"I shake my head at her "I don't feel like that about you. And neither do any of your real friends. Who else matters right?"I nod at her."Now come on boyfriend schools over lets go to my house, and I promise I'll make you feel better."She gives me a very naughty look, and I want nothing more than to go with her but first I need to finish this.

"That sounds really good Brooke "She starts to get up, but I gently grab her shoulder "But first I need to do something"

"What are you going to do Luke?"She looks worried, and I take her into my arms and hold her.

"Everything's going to be ok Brooke."I take her face in my hands and face her towards me "I promise I just need to do this."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"It's ok. I won't be long. Wait for me at your car ok."She nods and I kiss her one last time on the lips. She kisses me back and I feel her arms wrap around my back and I can tell she's trying to hold me in so she can keep me safe. I pull back from the kiss, and get up from the bench. She gets up to, and I start walking back into the school.

* * *

I'm walking down the deserted hallway now towards the gymnasium. I open the door to the gymnasium and can't help but chuckle at who I see. I had hoped to simply challenge Nathan while he was alone, but I should have known he's Nathan Scott so he's never alone.

"So what do we owe this pleasure Lucas? Brooke finishing with some guy so your bored?"Tim high fives him and Riley laughs. Haley stays silent behind Nathan, and I can't believe I ever called this hollow shell of a girl my best friend.

"Coach Durham asked me to join the team."Nathan looks shocked, but he quickly puts a confident look back on his face.

"Really because I didn't know this was the special needs team."

"Before I do. I want to face you. One on one "I stare at Nathan, which causes silence amongst the rest of them who must be completely shocked.

"Why would you be that stupid?"

"It's time you were dethroned."I taunt Nathan

"Be careful bastard."He throws the basketball he's holding in his hands at me hard. If I wasn't quick the ball might have taken my head off. But luckily I catch it."Fine I got time to beat you at some basketball. It shouldn't take very long. But if I win you crawl back in your hole and remember your place in all this."

"Twelve o'clock at the River court."I bounce the ball to him and he nods."But if I win I'm going to want something else."

* * *

I'm so glad that Brooke waited for me. She lying on the front of her car, and oh my god does she look sexy. She has her eyes closed and headphones in so she doesn't notice me come up to her. I move my face close and kiss her on the lips. She moans out through the kiss

"Oh Brandon your lips are so soft" I pull back and she starts laughing

"Ha-ha Brooke really funny."I pretend to laugh

"I thought so."She's still laughing. I pull her into another kiss

"Did I keep you waiting long?"

"Nope. How did it go?"She has a worried look on her face.

"He's going to meet me at the River court at twelve."I feel nervous and she must sense it. She pulls me close to her and looks up at me.

"You're going to beat the crap out of him Broody."She looks so sure and for a moment I allow myself to believe I can beat him."Unfortunately I won't be able to make it "She gives me an apologetic look.

"What. Why can't you come?"I need her there so much, I really dont know if I can do this alone.

"Oh I can. It just turns me on so much went you want me." She pulls me into another searing kiss that takes my breath away."Let's go boyfriend."

* * *

The drive to her house is quiet. Normally I feel really worried when no one's talking but when I'm with her the silence is calming. She's just silently singing along to the music and holding onto my hand, absentmindedly she rubs my hand every little bit. When we finally get to her house, I get out of the car and hurry to her door.

"You in a hurry Luke?"She says while walking up to the door and opening it. She opens the door and walks in before turning around to wait for my answer. I don't answer her just thrust myself towards her and take her lips on mine. She immediately reciprocates the kiss and before I know it were lying on the stairs making out. I want to kiss every inch of her body, every part of her body is so perfect I desire it all. I start kissing her neck and she starts moaning. She starts to get up but she never takes her lips from mine. She's pulling me by the shirt up the stairs towards her bedroom. I now know why my mom told me never to play on stairs. We finally reach her bedroom and she pulls away from me for a second. She pulls her shirt over her head to reveal a very sexy pink bra. Her breasts look like they're going to pop out of the bra, and I feel so turned off in this moment I don't know if I can take anymore. She must notice the awe struck look in my eyes because she smiles at me before pulling me onto her on the bed. She starts pulling my shirt over my head, and then I watch her for a few seconds stare at my chest. She then starts kissing me on the chest and stomach, sending chills up and down my body. My hands are moving all over her body and I can't help myself but start to kiss her chest. I move lower and start to kiss her stomach, this causes her to start to moan even more. She then grabs my head and pulls me back to her lips, where she starts kissing me like there's no tomorrow. My hands start to move down to her pants

"Lucas... "She moans "Slow down "When she says that I'm a little hurt and she must see the hurt look on my face."Listen Luke. It's not that I don't want you, because I think you can tell that I do, it's just..."She looks likes afraid to go further.

"What is it Brooke?"

"I really care about you Lucas. And I'm just really afraid that you're not going to want me anymore once you see me the way everyone else does."She looks so hurt, and as hard as it is to resist touching and kissing her all over since she's still lying beneath me in only a bra and pants.

"I would never think of you like that. God Brooke don't you know how I feel about you?"

"I read the notebook...and you wrote some very intimate feeling about Peyton, and I really don't want to be second place. You could be the guy for me I really couldn't survive if I lost you."

"I love you Brooke "I shock myself that I said it. I mean, I've always thought it but to say it brings this to a whole new level.

"What did you say?"

"I said I love you Brooke. I love you not Peyton. I don't think I ever loved her once I started thinking about it."She looks speechless."I will wait for however long you want to wait." She doesn't answer me just kisses me on the lips and pulls me back down to her. We start making out again when all of a sudden my stomach growls. She starts laughing, and before I know it I'm laughing as well.

"Let's get my handsome boyfriend something to eat." She gets up and walks to her door "I mean we can't have you lose tonight. Now can we?" She's still only wearing a bra and pants and I'm lying on her bed without a shirt on.

"Umm...Aren't you going to adjust your outfit if we're going downstairs?"

"Your totally right Luke "She walks into her bathroom while I get up and start walking to the door. I stop when I reach the door. She comes back into her room and she's now only wearing her bra and the matching pink panties. Her pants now discarded she stops in front of me and I allow myself a moment to stare at her."This is so much better Luke."She smiles up at me and kisses me on the lips, before leaving the room to go downstairs. God I love this girl.

* * *

I don't know when the court had become so full of people, but it had. There are basically two groups now. Near the bench near Brooke and mouth stand all the so called unpopular students of our school. All the people I associate with and of course the love of my life Brooke Davis. She smiles at me and my heart is filled with joy. My smile with Brooke is interrupted by skills passing me the ball from beneath the basket. Behind Skills stands the entire "in crowd" kids. They hover around the bottom of the net like baby birds waiting for their mother to feed them. I take the shot and it goes right in, I've yet to miss a shot tonight. Mouth interrupts us with another announcement.

"Just moments before the stroke of twelve, and still no Nathan Scott."He speaks into his microphone.

"And the natives are getting restless, Mouth, judging by the crowd that envelops our booth."Jimmy speaks in a hushed tone and I can't help but smile. I see Junk approach the bench

"You don't have a booth."Junk says

"Junk Moreti joins us now. Junk, you care to make a prediction?"Mouth asks him

"I predict you guys will be the two biggest morons out here."He and Brooke both laugh

"What about you Brooke, any predictions?"

"No doubt. My broody is going to clean the court with him "Me and Brooke share a smile

And you heard it here first ladies and gentlemen."Mouth pauses and I notice a car pulling in. "And it looks like Nathan Scott has arrived, driven by car right onto the court."The in crowd start there chanting of his name. I'm so nervous right now. Nathan exits the car with Riley, Tim and of course Haley stumbles out from the backseat. Nathan takes off his coat and passes it to Tim. Wow. He holds his coat for him, that's really cool, not at all gay. I take one final shot before I know the game is going to start. Of course after making like thirty straight shots I miss this one. Nathan catches it and then goes into the net and makes a slam dunk. He then grabs the ball and walks towards me. Mouth announces the start of the game.  
"Okay, folks, here we go the game is fifteen by ones. Make it, take it, win by one, and you can feel the intensity in the air."The crowd is still chanting and screaming. Nathan stands in front of me and hands me the ball.  
"You ready for this?" Nathan says  
"Why not?"  
"It's your life."

"Yeah. It is."I take the ball in my hand. I move forward faking out Nathan and take the shot. It goes in and I hear Brooke yell my name. Followed by Mouth announcing.

"Oh-ho! A 25-footer rips the silk like Jimmy Edwards in a size 3 dress." Nathan walks back to me and hands me the ball again.

"Go ahead, man. I'll give you that all night." I take the shot the same way and it goes in again. I may be hallucinating but I can hear my name being chanted now, along with cheers. I'm gaining some confidence now.

"What happened to all night?"I try and dribble past Nathan but he steals the ball from me.

"Is that all you got, man? If that's all you got, this is over."He taunts me before dribbling it past me and making a slam dunk. I hear Jimmy yell out

"This looks to be a battle, mouth. Uhh! Yeah! Yeah!" The game continues he makes nice shots, and I counter with making my own nice shots. He's up by two when I'm defending him. I'm staying on him, not giving him any openings to the basket, when he puts his elbow right into my lip. He proceeds to dribble past me and score. I can feel my lip is bleeding, but I can't stop playing. I feel someone grab my arm and look up to see Brooke.

"Baby are you ok?"She asks me while checking my lip.

"I'm okay Brooke."With my eyes I try and tell her I need to finish this, she must realize that because she smiles at me and turns back towards the bench. I mouth thank you to her before returning to the game. "No foul. Basket counts. Besides... You won't score again. "Nathan shrugs, while Nathan continues to announce.

"Oh, the basket counts, and its 14-12, game point for Nathan. He could win it all right here." Nathan moves up on me and then dribbles past me on my right. He jumps to the basket for a layup but I move in quick and block the shot. "Holy Crap Did you see that?! Someday men will write stories about that block. Children will be named after it. Argentinean women will weep for it." I make a basket another three point basket." Luke gets a basket and he's down by one."

"You're down by one, man. Don't choke now. "Nathan tries to rattle me but I'm not having any of it. He hands me the ball and I shoot another three pointer in.

" This is it, folks there's no going back now. The next basket wins it."Mouth announces.

"Your father has never mentioned you man. And your girlfriends a fucking whore."He barks at me, and I just glare at him. I prepare to drop the ball and punch him in the face, when out of the corner of my eye I see her. She smiles and me, I feel at ease, like nothing in the world can hurt me.

"You honestly think that because Dan picked you your better than me? Because if you do your a fool."

"You're the fool. And after this you'll be a loser too." I start dribbling the ball towards him. Trying to find an opening I dribble back and forth. The guy is good he gives me no openings, and then I quickly move to my left before then returning to my right leaving him behind. I take a fade away shot and it goes right in. I hear the cheering from my side, and then I'm nearly run over by Brooke who jumps into my arms. After a minute of this I tear myself and Brooke away from the crowd.

"Lucas that was so amazing "She kisses me on the lips.

"I love you Brooke "She doesn't respond just deepens the kiss. We break away from each other, and I notice that Haley is now standing alone underneath the net. "Hold on Brooke "She kisses me on the lips before nodding and returning to mouth and the rest of them. I walk over to Haley who looks completely shocked that I'm approaching her.

"That was a really good game Lucas."

"Yeah thanks."

"I'm really s...."I put my hand in the air to show I don't want her to continue. I really can't hear her say that anymore. There's a few awkward seconds of silence before she says."So what did you bet?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean when we were in the gym, and you told Nathan to make everyone leave so you could tell him the final part of your bet."

"If I win he has to take care of you."She looks at me confused.

"Why?"

"Were done. I want nothing more to do with you. I gave you a second chance and you lied right to my face." She looks shocked and tears are forming in her eyes."But I love you, and I can't go on until I know you're taken care of."

"So what this is goodbye?"She looks like she wants me to disagree, tell me all this was just a joke and I want to be her friend again. But I can't, some cuts are just too deep. Sometimes things are too damaged to be saved, so you need to understand that and just let it go.

"Yes it is Haley."She lets out a sob and I instinctively move forward to hug her. But of course that's not something I can do anymore, I've let her go."I'll always love you. Even when I don't understand."She's completely balling now and the only reason she stops is because Nathan's voice calls out.

"Haley "He moves his head to signal her to join him in the car.

"Goodbye Haley."I smile at her one last time.

"Bye Luke "She smiles back. She wipes the tears away from her eyes and then walks back towards Nathan's car. It's in that moment that I realize that I just lost my best friend. I turn around and look for her. I spy her laughing with Mouth about something and I smile. She notices I'm looking at her and she looks over and smiles at me, her dimples fully exposed. She walks towards me and I realize how much I really love this girl.

* * *

**Authors Note**: That was a really long chapter. Thank you very much to all who read it. I have a question for all people reading this. I wanted to know if you wanted any Brucas sex scene to be written or just implied. I had it all written out in this chapter but I deleted it since I wasn't sure if that's something you guys wanted in this story.

Also for those excited for the Brucas and Karen dinner I unfortunately had to move that to the next chapter. It will be happening though don't worry.

**Softballer 33**: Glad you liked that I was kind of worried about how it would come out.

**Sophiabush 123**: Well yes Lucas is going to join the team in the next chapter.

**OTH-Brucas-love**: Thanks for the review.

**Brucas lover 135**: Guess I know where you vote on the sex question is lol

**BrOoKe DaViS23**: Thanks for the review

**Broody&Cheery**: lol thanks for the review

**BDavisLScott23**: Glad you liked the chapter. The reaction at school was quite interesting. And yes Brucas is going to join the team next chapter.

**Brucas82forever**: Haley is in love with Nathan and is really losing herself in the process

**EliteDarkLord-DragonSlayer-3.1**: Thanks for the review please review again

**Anonymous**: I'll say this Lucas will not cheat on Brooke and Brooke will not cheat on Peyton


	7. First Day on a Brand New World

**Authors Note**: Here's chapter 7 guys. Hope you enjoy it. It's the first practise with Lucas on the team. There's some Brucas action and Dan's first appearance. He's frigan evil.

Flashbacks in Italics

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**Chapter 7**: First Day on a Brand New World

I don't know how long I've been standing at this door. I suppose it's been awhile when I know that there are sixty three painted blocks on the big doors. I doubt I'd even be here if not for my beautiful girlfriend promising to give me a special present after the practise. I don't care if its sex, or just us talking. I'd wade through hell to spend time with this girl, and unfortunately that's exactly what I'm about to do. I push the doors open and walk into the gym. I swear you could hear a pin drop it got so quiet. I'm standing off to the side feeling really uncomfortable about having twenty or so people staring at me. Then I spot her. She looks so hot in her cheerleading outfit, and I must remind myself to make sure she wears that tonight. Wait a second what am I doing. Am I actually imagining making out with Brooke in her cheerleading outfit while twenty something people stare at me like I'm a leper. This kind of obsession can't be healthy, but when she smiles at me I really don't care. My day dreaming is interrupted by coach Durham yelling out.

"I'm sorry did I say for everyone to stop! Get back to practise now!"He yells it out and then blows his whistle while walking towards me."Well I guess I should be glad you showed up. Of course practis started fourty five minutes ago." He gives me a scowl and I'm praying he doesnt yell at me or something. Instead his scowl dissapears and He chuckles. "I'm just glad your here son. "He puts his hand on my shoulder in reassurance. When he does that I can see Nathan give me a death glare out of the corner of my eye."Now, let's get you a uniform."He turns around and scans the gym."Jegowski! Get your scrawny butt over here." I see Jake run over to us. I don't know much about Jake, he seems to kind of keep to himself. I'm sure since he's on the team he hates me but at least he's never insulted me or beat me up before.

"What do you need coach?"

"Lucas is joining the team."I expect Jake to huff or say some stupid remark but instead he holds his hand out for me.

"Welcome to the team Lucas."I shake his hand, while at the same time trying to shake off the confusion of someone on this team accepting me.

"Please show Lucas to the equipment room. There's a jersey waiting for him in there." Jake smacks me on the shoulder and starts walking towards the dressing room."And practise is basically over so hurry your asses back here when you're done!"Coach Durham barks out. I follow Jake into the locker room.

"So...you have some balls to join the team."I knew his attitude was too good to be true

"Look I don't know what they've told you, but I really don't want to steal your spot on the team. And I don't have a problem with you."I really don't want another enemy so I try and squash some rumors he's probably been told about me.

"That's good. Because this is the first time we've spoken." He laughs

"I'm sorry... I just..."I look down embarrassed that I made an ass of myself accusing him.

"You assumed I'd hate you because your brother and sister do."I nodded in response."It's understandable Luke."He opened the locker grabbed a jersey and threw it to me."There you go number three."

"Thanks Jake. And listen about before..."I started but he interrupted me.

"Don't mention it."He then walked out of the equipment room and back to the court. I can't help think how close I just got to burning what might be the only bridge I have on this team. He seemed like a good guy so maybe just maybe he'll give me a chance. I slowly make my way back onto the court and am immediately met by Nathan's death glare. Of course he starts stomping his way over to me. I look around but Whitey and Brooke are nowhere to be seen.

"I have to admit it. You got balls for actually showing up here."Why did he have to be such an asshole?

"Just stay away from me Nathan."He gives me a weird look then started to turn back to the team. I start to think that maybe he's grown up. I start to think that he might even just leave me alone on the team. When he turns back around and punches me in the face I'm pretty sure I was wrong. Immediately the whole gym rushes around us chanting for Nathan to hit me again.

"When are you going to get it through your head that no one on this team wants you here?" He went to punch me again but I moved aside and punched him in the gut. He recoiled from the gut punch and then punched me in the face again. He went to punch me again when I saw Jake grab him by the back and pull him away."Get off me Jegowski! Get the hell of me!"Jake let go of him then walked over to me and started pulling me away from the crowd. As we were almost at the door Nathan yelled at us again."What is with everyone wanting to be loser like you Luke?" He's laughing, and when he starts the whole team starts laughing with him. I pull away from Jake and yell back at Nathan

"Did you ever think that maybe you're the loser Nathan?"My hands were outstretched. Riley then moved towards me.

"Oh yeah, the loser is definitely the one who has a father and friends."Everyone around starts to laugh

"You think it makes you better than me because our father is a loser?"

"Well first of all he's our father."She pointed between her and Nathan causing the crowd to laugh."And second of all you're the loser for thinking a whore like Brooke wants anything more than sex."Her mentioning Brooke pissed me off more than anything else they could say to me.

"You don't talk about Brooke like that. EVER!"I yelled it, and I kind of surprised myself with the rage in my voice. Riley looked shocked at first but then her crooked smile was back. I knew I was showing her my weakness but I don't care, I can't let her talk about Brooke that way.

"Did I hit a nerve there Lucas? And by the way, I'll talk about the whore any time I wish I'm co-captain of the god dam cheerleading team. If you don't like that maybe you should find a girl who hasn't been with half the school."She gave me a smug look. There was so much hate in her eyes it was actually painful to look at her. I can understand that Dan has a lot of influence over them so that would explain why they hassle me so much. But what I don't understand is the absolute hate that her eyes give off. After a minute of staring her down I really can't take seeing her eyes anymore so I just let Jake pull me away from the court. He pulls me outside until were sitting on a bench.

"I guess that's one way to make an entrance."He laughs.

"This is so not funny Jake."He's still kind of snickering."How can a person have so much hate in them towards a person they barely know?"I hold my head in my hands

"I don't know a lot about your guy's situation aside from the rumours but from what I've heard your dad is quite the asshole."He's right about Dan being an asshole, but Dan can only have so much influence eventually they made a choice to listen to him. It wasn't always like this. I remember playing with Nathan in the junior leagues. We weren't best friends but for the couple months that we played together we joked around a lot and talked about stuff. I don't remember us fighting once until Dan came around. Maybe if I had been sick for that practise things would be different. Maybe me and Nathan would have gotten closer and then he wouldn't have believed Dan's lies. We were ten when we were on the same team. I remember seeing Dan at the games, but that day would be the first day he came to a practise. And that day would be the beginning of the end for me and Nathan.

_It's almost the end of practise and usually around now me and Nathan would play a game of one on one. Like usual Nathan comes over to me. "You ready to Lose Luke."He laughed._

"_You haven't beaten me yet Nathan. So why would I be nervous."He high fives me and then I pass him the ball. We play a game to ten and I beat him by one. "That was a good game Nathan."I high five him_

"_Yeah it was man. You excited for our game on Thursday Luke?_

"_Yeah I really am. My mom is finally going to be able to make it."I have a big smile on my face_

"_That's great Luke. I know how much you want to her to be at our games."He pats me on the shoulder._

And that was the last moment we had a friendly conversation. At the time I would have counted him as one of my better friends. Since that Day he's been along with Riley my worst enemies. It was after Nathan patted me on the shoulder that Dan intervened.

"_Nathan!"He yelled it out and I saw the look in Nathan's face. There was fear in his eyes. _

"_I'll see you on Thursday Luke "He smiled and walked over to his dad. Dan grabbed Nathan's gym bag then grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him out of the gym. When he reached the door Dan stopped looked back at me and glared. He then walked out the door without a word. I dont understand why I could see so much anger and hate in Dan's eyes._

I can't ever know what Dan said to Nathan when he took him home, but what I do know is what happened the days after. Nathan came to the gym and didn't say a word to me. He didn't look at me. He didn't pass the ball to me when were playing. And at the end of practise he just walked out. He didn't ask me to play one on one he just left. That day there was nothing in his eyes. The Nathan Scott I saw that day looked devoid of all emotion. Then the next day the other kids on the team started to tease me about how Nathan's dad was my dad too. I really wanted not to believe them, but when I saw Nathan's face I knew it was true. The emotionless face from the day before was gone. This new Nathan had a lot of emotion, unfortunately for me that emotion was hate. Ever since that day it's been the way it is now.

"You can't believe the rumours Jake."

"Oh I don't. Maybe someday I'll get to hear your side of the story Luke."I nodded in response

"Yeah. Someday I'll tell you Jake."He started to get up from the table

"Sorry to bail on you like this Luke, but I have to be somewhere."The look on his face told me it was somewhere serious.

"No it's totally okay Jake. I really appreciate what you did in there." He just nodded and walked away. I sit back on the bench and take out my cell phone. I try to call Brooke but her phone is off. I decide I'll text Brooke telling her I'll wait for her at her car. I really don't feel like getting changed in the dressing room today. It'll just be another opportunity for Nathan to attack me. I get to her car and hop in when I see she forgot to lock the door. I'm not in the car for more than two minutes when my cell phone starts to ring. I look at the screen and answer it once I see its Brooke.

"Hi Brooke."

"Luke are you okay? Theresa told me what happened I'm so sorry." I love how just hearing her voice can make me feel better.

"I'm fine Brooke. I'm much better now that I've heard your voice. It's then that I see her running across the quad towards her car.

"Where are you Luke?"

"Actually Brooke I'm..."She interrupts me before I can continue.

"I'm getting into my car now. Just tell me where you are and I'll be right there."She opens the door to her car and hops in the driver's seat. She finally sees that there's someone in her passenger seat and before I can say anything she whips her purse at me and starts screaming.

"Brooke. Calm down it's me." She stops hitting me with the purse and screaming once my hand touches her arm. Her face slowly loses the fear that engulfed it seconds before and she starts to smile at me. "Ouch Brooke. You know this is not the first time you've physically abused me. I think I may have to report you."I laugh, and she starts laughing with me. She leans over the console and pulls me close to her.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there Luke."She's whimpering into my chest while she says it. I gently pull her face up and put a hand on each cheek.

"It's not your fault Brooke."

"Yes it is Lucas. If I wasn't such a whore you wouldn't have to deal with all this."She crying now

"You are not a whore Brooke. Not even close to it."Her crying slows down and she looks at me in the eyes.

"I don't deserve you Lucas."

"I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. If you could you would never be able to say that."I'm caught off guard when she lunges across the console and kisses me. Her lips are like a drug to me. And a drug I never want to let go of. She slowly makes her way over to my side of the car and straddles me. She never takes her lips off mine, and if she tried I don't know that I could let her. Her hands go to the back of my neck and she pulls me even closer to her our chests now touching. Her hands move to the bottom of her shirt and I can tell she's trying to take it off. I force myself to let her mouth leave mine momentarily while she discards her shirt.

I have to say. If someone had told me a week ago that I'd be making out with Brook in the front seat of her car I would have called them crazy. She's just so beautiful in every way, and I can't understand how I lived before her touch.

She finally gets her shirt over her head and for a moment I'm just lost in her. I can't take my eyes away from her and her perfection. I realize she must think something's wrong when she nervously speaks out.

"Is something wrong?"She holds her hands over her breasts and again I wish she could understand the way I feel about her. I try to think of what I could say to make her understand. What I could say to make her feel as perfect as I see her. Instead I say the three simplest words I know.

"I love you."Her eyes instantly change from nervousness to shock. I've been saying it in my head for years I guess she has every right to be shocked since it's the first time I've said it out loud.

"What did you just say Lucas?"Her face screams that she's worried she misheard. I've known her for such a little amount of time and yet I know her so well already.

"I said I love you Brooke."I can tell from her face that she's struggling with what I've said. I didn't want to scare her away it just kind of came out so there's no going back now. Her mouth moves like she wants to say something but instead she just crashes her lips onto my lips. She moves her hands to the bottom of my shirt and starts to take my shirt off. I lift my arms straight in the air to help her out. She smiles again at me before crashing her lips back onto mine.

"Lucas I need you."Her voice is full of passion and at this point I know exactly how much I need her too.

"Oh god Brooke I need you so much."Are kissing is getting more and more heated, and are chests are now skin to skin. I can feel her breasts on my chest and it turns me on so much. I reach down and take them in my hands. I gently rub them and she lets out a moan. I go to take them in my mouth when she pulls away. The loss of her lips and body causes shock to my system, so I remain motionless as she puts her shirt back on and moves back to her seat. I'm still in shock when she checks her makeup in the mirror. She then looks back over to me and smiles

"You ready for dinner boyfriend?"She says it in a cheerier voice then she should be able to while I sit in the passenger seat still breathing heavily and of course shirtless.

"Umm...Brooke...what the hell just happened here?"I stutter as I speak the words but finally get them out.

"Well you see my brooding boyfriend was getting me all hot and bothered."She smiles at me her arms are folded at her chest.

"And that's a problem?"I grab my shirt and put it back on.

"Well it is when we have dinner with your mother."She says it like it made the most sense in the world and I'm crazy for not getting it. She turns towards the wheel and starts up the car. Once the car starts she turns back to me. Her eyes are filled with passion and for the second time in ten minutes she takes me off gaurd."And plus. I need you soooo bad. And the passenger seat of my car is not going to be enough to scratch the itch I have."We both laugh "So you ready boyfriend?"It's when she asks me that I realize I don't have my bag. I must have left it in the gym. Well isn't that perfect. Under normal circumstances I would just leave it and get it tomorrow to avoid the confrontation that will most likely ensue. But unfortunately I have my homework in there and I need it for tonight.

"Actually Brooke I need to get my bag from the gym."She looks at me with fear in her eyes.

"Baby are you sure? You got away without Whitey knowing about your fight. Can't we just go while you're ahead?"

"I wish. But I have my homework in that bag I need it to do tonight "She nods at me then leans across and kisses me on the lips "I'll be right back girlfriend."I step out of the car and walk back to the gym. I'm now standing at the doors getting more and more nervous about who is going to be waiting for me inside. Finally I slowly open the doors and peer inside. To my great shock there's no one inside. I scan the gym for my bag, finally spotting it by the benches. I rush over and grab my bag, I quickly check to make sure nothing is missing. Everything is still there so I rush back towards the exit to the gym. When I open the door and bump into a woman my voice emits a much higher pitched scream then I would have liked. The woman looks me up and down and then speaks.

"Well look who it is" She looks at me like she's inspecting a product she's preparing to buy. I'm confused because I've never met this woman before.

"I'm sorry. Should I know you?"I try to say it with all the politeness my mother taught me.

"You don't know me. But sweetheart I know all about you."She has a very smug look on her face. And I can't quite shake the feeling that I've seen that look before.

"Alright then. I'm sorry but I'm going to get going now."I try to walk by her but she grabs me by the shoulder and turns me around.

"You aren't going anywhere Lucas Scott. After years of your existence embarrassing this family you owe me a minute of conversation."It's then that I realize who it is. I've seen photos of Deb before in the paper so that leaves only one other Scott women. I knew I recognized that smile from somewhere.

"You're Shelli. Riley's mom."

"I'm glad to see that your Scott genes got you at least half a brain."Her eyes conveyed the same kind of hatred that Riley's eyes did.

"At least now I know where Riley got her manors from. I've got to go now." I again try to walk by her but she again grabs my shoulders. This time she grabs both of my shoulders and pulls me so I'm face to face with her."What are you doing?"She squeezes my shoulders even harder after that comment.

"What am I doing? I'll tell you what I'm doing."She looks at me confused. She holds her mouth open as if she's going to say something. But no words come out. What does come out is the smell of alcohol. That's when I realize she's drunk.

"You're drunk."I push her off me.

"And you're a bastard. Who really cares what you think about my drinking when you're just a snivelling little boy."She yells it out and I have to admit I'm kind of nervous around her. She falls back and leans against the wall for support. She looks like she's going to fall over so I move towards her to help her.

"Get away from my mother."Riley yells out. Riley sprints over to her mom whose now fallen onto the grass. I hold my hands in the air defeated and start walking towards Brooke's car. Riley yells at me as I walk away."Don't ever go near her again you pathetic loser."When I turn around to look at her I'm drawn to her eyes. For the first time in all the years I've seen Riley I've only seen one emossion come from her eyes. Hate. The problem is this time her eyes look filled with embarrassment not filled with hate. It's an uncomfortable feeling to see Riley's face with anything on it other than disdain or hate.

"Fine. I'm gone." I walk back over to Brooke's car. As I approach her car I see that he's leaning on Brooke's car talking to her. I haven't seen him since the incident in the gym and I had hoped not to see him for the rest of my life. Seeing him makes me feel like I'm Harry Potter finally confronting Lord Voldermorte after years of only hearing about him. As I approach he must hear my footsteps because he turns towards me and gives me a smug smile. That smile must be like manditory for everyone he's involved with.

"If isn't my worst mistake."He looks at me like I'm the most disgusting thing in the world. I see Brooke get out of the driver's seat and walk between us.

"Did you know those were the first words you've spoken to me in my entire life?"

"You know I don't really think about you enough to notice."

That one hurt.

"Mr. Scott maybe you should go."

"And what I should leave because some slut tells me too. I don't think so little girl."

That just pissed me off

"Don't talk about her like that."I move towards him and only Brooke's body stops me from punching him.

"Good to see you got some fire in you. At least you got something from me."He laughs to himself."Anyway I should be going. You see I have children who I actually love to attend to."He laughs again to himself and then starts to walk away. I feel Brooke envelop me in a hug and usually that would have instantly brought me out of whatever bad mood I was in. But I guess not this time. I suppose hearing your own father talk to you like that can have that effect.

"What kind of human being can act that way?"She's rubbing my back, and I'm really glad she's here right now. I have to wonder what I did before Brooke was around. I suppose I had Haley then.

"Just forget about him Luke. He's not right you know that. You're the nicest person I've ever met and you don't deserve any of this treatment." She pulls my face up to look at her. Her smile fills me with warmth.

"It's you I don't deserve Brooke."I kiss her on the cheek, and she sheepishly smiles back at me.

"I don't know about that."She looks towards the ground nervously, but I gently pull her face back up and smile at her.

"I do."

* * *

When we arrive at the cafe I look in to see that Haley is still there. Oh how I hate that Haley works at the cafe so much. But at least she's kept true to one thing in her life. When I open the door for Brooke and the door chimes I see Haley smile when she sees me. She immediately tries to hide the smile but it's too late I saw it. I love Haley just as much as I always did that will never change. I just can't trust her anymore. My mom then walks out from the back."Hello son. And Brooke I'm happy you decided to come to dinner with us."I look at Haley and I see the sadness in her face. I know she probably wishes she could join us. But she can't. That time for us is dead and buried. Brooke walks over and sits at the counter, rubbing the seat beside her telling me to sit down

"Hi Karen."I laugh inside at how cheery Brooke sounds around my mother.

"So did you three have a good day at school?"My mother is cleaning the counter while she says it.

That's awkward. Luckily Brooke senses my nervous vibe and jumps in.

"It was uneventful. I made up the best ending for my cheerleading routine. So there's that at least."I laugh at Brooke

"I was captain during my time at Tree hill as well Brooke."Brooke looks at her like she's the new messiah.

"Really?"And look how quickly I'm forgotten. First I bring Haley to the cafe and my mother loves her. And now she's talking with Brooke about her cheerleading days. I think my mother just loves any girls I bring here more than me.

"Yes I was. Sparkle Classic is coming up for you soon isn't it?"

"Yep. I'm not at all nervous about it."My mother and Brooke both laugh.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Brooke."It never ceases to amaze me how reassuring my mother can be with the tone of her voice.

"Listen you two. I'm going to go get a drink. Don't miss me too much."They nod towards me and then return to their conversation. I head towards the back to get some juice. When I get closer to the back I hear someone crying. I keep moving towards the back and stop when I see Haley plopped out on a box crying. I rush over and grab her shoulders.

"Haley what's wrong?"She's balling at this point.

"It's everything Luke."She pulls me into her for a hug.

"Talk to me Haley."I'm rubbing her back while she holds onto me for dear life.

"That's just it Luke. I can't talk to you, and it's all my fault."I agree with her but after our history no matter how much I hate what she's become I can't just leave her here to cry by herself."He doesn't even care Lucas. He goes from telling me something I can tell is something he's never told anyone else. Then he'll insult me in front of all his friends. He doesnt care about me at all. I'm such an idiot."She's looking up at me but her arms still have a death hold around me.

"You're not an idiot Haley. Your just...your just in love."She rests her head on my chest. Her arms are clasped around me back holding me close to her.

"I want you back Lucas. I need my best friend again."She looks up at me and her eyes are pleading. It takes every ounce of strength I have to deny her.

"I'm sorry Haley. I can't trust you anymore."Her eyes look destroyed and I hate myself for doing that to her."Maybe someday down the road we can get back to what we were...but right now I just...I can't trust you."She nods. At this point I don't know if I believe that but I love her enough to give her hope.

"I love you Luke. You know that right."

"I do. And Haley I'll always love you too. You're my best friend and you always will be."I kiss her on the forehead and then turn back into the cafe. When I come back into view Brooke jumps up. She kisses me on the cheek and then says.

"You go to Mars for that drink Luke?"

"Something like that."I look around and all the customers are gone. Brooke was right I must have been back there a while. My mother then comes into view holding two plates.

"Look whose back. Here are your meals guys." Her eyes then scanned the room. "Where did Haley go I have hers here too?

"I think she might have left out the back mom."Brooke looks over at me and I meet her stare. She smiles at me and I cant help but think she knew what happened.

"Non-sense."She turned around towards the back "HALEY!"She yelled out

"Well I think she might have heard you at her house mom."A few seconds later Haley comes out of the back.

"What's up Karen?"

"Your meal is getting cold. That's what's up."She gently grabs Haley by the shoulders and leads her to the seat beside Brooke, who smiles at Haley. Haley stands up and starts to speak

"Karen I think..."My mother interrupts Haley

"You think you should start eating. I agree "Haley just sits back down.

"You really know how to crack the whip Karen."Brooke, Haley and my mother share a laugh. I can't help but think. This is how life should be. And for a moment I allow myself to forget that tomorrow me and Haley will go back to avoiding each other. I allow myself to forget that tomorrow I'll have to deal with another practise with Nathan and his goons. And then I feel her hand.

It's funny how I can tell it was her hand even with my eyes closed. Her hand is so soft and the goose bumps I get when she touches me are all I need to know it was my Brooke touching me. I open my eyes and look over at her. She's smiling at me, and her dimples are so beautiful when she smiles like that. She winks at me and then turns back to the conversation with Haley and my mom.

God I love this girl.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Thank you all very much for the Reviews. Please Review again.

Next chapter is Lucas's first game. Also huge blow-up between Riley and Brooke. Lastly the bitch Peyton will hatch a plan. Lucas will not cheat on Brooke EVER

**Neodeu**:My story is one where Lucas and Brooke will be happy most of the time. I will say that Peyton's not going to go quietly into the night. But I've said it before LUCAS WILL NOT CHEAT ON BROOKE.

**EliteDarkLord-DragonSlayer-3.1**: Laley is my favourite friendship in the show so I'll have a little of it every once and a while. But I don't think anyone could forgive what she did right away.

**Reviewandrun**:Thanks very much. I'm glad you liked it.

**Brucas Lover 135**: Ha. I'm glad you want it. It'll be happening in the next few chapters not sure when quite yet.

**Broody&Cheery**: I shortened the dinner considerably. If you want I can email you the whole thing because it stated off like ten times as big.

**BDavisLScott23**: I specifically added the line in this chapter about Riley being co-captains of the team along with Brooke just for you. Ill say this Brooke is going to get very upset at Riley soon. Let's just say Riley and Peyton make a very evil team. I'll leave it at that.

**softballer33**: Thanks for the support. This chapter didn't have a lot of Brucas but the next one will have tons. The love making scene will be coming up in the next few chapters.


	8. Hate and Love

**Authors Note**: I'm so sorry it took me so long update. But here it is.

I warn all who read this that there is M rated content about half way down. Please enjoy and Please Review.

* * *

**Chapter 8**: Revenge

The week had gone by pretty quickly. I had been to practise for the past four days, but whitey's presence seemed to have a calming effect on Nathan. He glared at me every moment he possibly could but he never approached me again. I hadn't had any run-ins with Riley's drunken mother or my psychopathic father. So everything was at least going by calmly. I had saw Haley at dinner every night this week, but she seemed to have finally got the message. She talked to my mom and Brooke and basically left me alone. And then we come to Brooke.

My week with Brooke had been one of pure bliss. With Brooke I feel more alive than I ever thought I could have. She fills my life with laughter and that's something that I've really needed. Of course I would be lying if I said the only thing I was getting out of our relationship was laughter. Sometimes when were fooling around I feel completely lost. I feel like my body is being controlled by a primal force within me. I can never get enough of her lips. Her body is so perfect and I can never pry my eyes off it. Since our fooling around in the car we haven't gotten that close to sex again. Every time I reach towards her pants she swats me away or pulls away. I'm far too deeply in love with her to try and scare her away by getting judgemental with her, but come on. She's slept with countless guys and I know they haven't treated her with half the care I have. But I'm wasting time and I refuse to be late for school and there by not allowed to play in the game today. This is my first game as a Raven and too say I'm nervous would be an understatement. Not only do I want to play well for myself but I also have so many other people I want to play well for. And a part of me wants my father to see how talented I am. Maybe he'll be impressed and want to get to know me better. Of course I wouldn't tell anyone this but I really want him to care. Even though the only words he's spoken to me were cruel, and the only things he's done for are malicious. I still care. I have no idea how to turn that off.

I told Brooke I'd pick her up for school today since my uncle Keith let me use his truck as a reward on game day. When I arrive out front her massive house and pull in behind her dad's Cadillac and her Volkswagen beetle I suddenly feel very inferior. When she bounces out the front door looking beyond gorgeous in her cheerleading uniform my inferiority complex goes sky high. She pulled open the door and hopped in. She pulled me into her for a kiss. How is that a simple kiss can take my breath away? How is it that the slightest touch from her can make my mind go to jelly?

"You excited for your first game boyfriend?" She smiled at me and I could tell her eyes were scanning me for any signs of nerves. I could try and lie. Say I was fine. But she'd see through it, she seems to always see through my bull.

"Yep"I looked down, hoping she would drop it.

"You have nothing to be nervous about Luke."She cradled my face in her hands and stared at me right in the eyes."You're amazing. The other team isn't going to know what hit them." I didn't believe it but hearing her try and talk me down definetly made me feel better. If only I knew then who was going to be the one getting hit.

"Thanks Brooke."I brushed my lips against hers.

"You taste good today Luke."She pulled me closer, while deepening the kiss.

"What. I don't taste good every day?"I pulled away and pretended to look hurt.

"Very much so baby."She chuckled and then pulled me in for another kiss.

* * *

The first day I had arrived at school with Brooke in tow was chaos. Every student had their eyes on us and all of them whispering about us. Brooke was definitely right about how little attention span the student body had. As the past four days have gone by so too have the stares and whispers. I'll still see students staring from time to time. And the whispers have never gone down. But at least as I walk with Brooke now across the quad, there isn't an entire school staring at us. Probably just fifty percent now. Brooke pulled me from my thoughts by stopping. I turned towards her and gave her a questioning look.

"So this is where I leave you Luke."I gave her another questioning look "I have a cheer meeting first period. First game and all, have to make sure the squad is ready."

"What about your social sciences class?"

"I always miss it on game day. Plus I don't really pay attention in that class."

"Why's that?"She put her hand to my cheek

"I'm too busy day dreaming about my sexy boyfriend."She put her lips to mine, before pulling back and staring at me with a naughty glint in her eyes." Oh the things I'm going to do to you after this game."Her mouth moulded into one of her dirty smiles. And I could almost see the lust in her eyes.

"I guess I'll see you at lunch then?"

"You bet your ass you will."She pulled me into another kiss. Her lips feel so good, and her taste is intoxicating. She pulled away from the kiss and started walking towards the gym. I watched her body move as she walked. Her curves were so perfect it was almost painful to look at, knowing I wouldn't be able to touch her for hours. I start walking towards my class the moment she opens the door to the gym and disappears from my view. When I walk in the class I'm surprised at what I see. Haley's moved from her seat beside me to up at the front by Nathan. Haley sends me a sad look, but I ignore it. Its too late for sad looks. In Haley's place beside me is Peyton. Two weeks ago I might have gone faint at having her sitting beside me but now. Now all I can think about is Brooke. When I sit down she turns towards me.

"Hey Luke."She says it friendly and I'm confused. When did we get to this kind of greeting? Last I knew we were ignoring each other.

"Peyton." I said it more rudely then she must have expected judging by the sad look on her face. I don't know what she expects, she ignored me for years and now she wants me to jump for her. I see her shrug off the sad look and turn back towards me. She's persistent I'll give her that.

"You excited for your game?"She gives me a big smile when she says it.

"Not really "I say it bluntly. She smiles and then puts her hand on my arm.

"You'll do great."She bites her lower lip in much the same way Brooke drives me crazy with. When Brooke does it I can barely control myself, but seeing Peyton do it is different. I don't get butterflies, I get angry. I pull my hand away and I see the sad face return. She doesn't try to start a conversation with me after that. I guess she finally got it into her head I'm not in the mood. I spend the rest of the class watching Haley and Nathan pass notes back and forth. Haley smiles when she gets them. And despite everything that's happened I'm glad she's happy. When the bell rings and I start walking to my math class, I notice that Peyton stays beside me as I'm walking. I want to stop and get her to explain why she's all over me. But I'm too confused to do anything. We get to class and of course she sits beside me. The class goes by quicker and for that I'm glad because she won't stop sending glances over at me or smiling when I look out the window. When the teacher leaves with like five minutes left I know what's coming.

"So Luke I heard you and Brooke are together now, is it true? She's been kind of distance towards me lately."I'm actually shocked that she would even ask me that.

"Yeah we are."I try to say it bluntly so she'll leave me alone. But she doesn't get the hint.

"Oh. I wish she would have told me."Shouldn't she be happy that her supposed best friend has found someone? But the jealously all over her face is all I need to know.

"Shouldn't you have been at cheer practise first period?"I turn to her when I say it.

"I never go to that. Brooke covers for me."It's a cruel world. Brooke covers for Peyton so that Peyton can flirt with me in class. God I want this class to be over so I can be one step closer to seeing Brooke.

"Brookes a really great girl."I say it proudly. I see the jealously return to Peyton's face. It's in this moment that I see the first glimpse of a vindictive side of Peyton Sawyer. A side of her that will tear down anyone to get what she wants. God I wish that was the last time I saw that side of her.

"She is."She smiles and then laughs to herself.

"What's so funny?"I'm kind of mad that she would laugh at me saying her best friend is a wonderful person.

"Nothing. Really."She starts to say something else but stops. I give her a look that says you better finish saying what you're thinking."She is really great. You know when she's not fucking random guys she's a wonderful person."

"Don't talk about her like that. You don't know a thing about her."My voice hisses with malice, and it's loud enough that a number of the kids in class turn around.

"What and you do."She stops and looks around the class."Luke she's screwed two guys in this class." She chuckles a bit and I can't take it anymore. I grab my book and my backpack and get up from my seat."Where are you going?"

"Away from you."And with that I walk out of class.

* * *

I spend the few minutes before class sitting outside the door to my American history class. She's such a bitch it's unbelievable. I've never heard Brooke say one bad thing about Peyton in all the times we've talked. And Peyton just went out of her way to throw Brooke under the bus. If I said it didn't bother me that Brooke has been with other guys I'd be lying. But it doesn't bother me for the reason that everyone might think. Of course I feel a sense of possession over Brooke, in the way I don't want anyone but me touching her. But the main reason is that I don't want her to think that I believe what all these people say about her. My American history class goes by quick and although Peyton sits beside me again, she doesn't try and start a conversation with me again. As I'm walking out the door and she grabs my arm to stop me, I'm wishing that I didn't jinx it.

"What do you want Peyton?"I'm glaring at her. Her face looks so sad, but I feel no pity. Not after what she just said.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to upset you."I can't believe she's apologizing to me. Let's think for a moment, she just called her best friend a whore in front of the entire class.

"You're sorry for upsetting me?"

"Yeah I'm sorry."She looks confused.

"If you think this is about me then you have got serious problems."I try to walk out but she grabs my arm and stops me.

"Lucas don't leave."She's kind of freaking me out now. I didn't realize I had a crazy stalker.

"Get off me Peyton."I pull away but she grabs me again with her other arm. She has me backed against the wall and she's pushing her body into mine.

"You love me Lucas. I know you do, I read your journal that Riley passed around. You know that your just settling for Brooke. Everyone know's that she's second place. Hell even she told me she wished you loved her as much as you love me"Her eyes are emotionless. Just blank globes staring at me. She's smiling but her facial expressions are filled with sadness.

"I loved you Peyton."She shakes her head at me as if that's going to change it."I love only Brooke now."

"No you don't. I need you Lucas, your all I have left."She's half crying now and I'd feel bad if it wasn't for the fact that this girl has got serious mental problems. With that I walk out of the classroom, and she finally doesn't grab my arm or try and stop me. But when I steal a glance back at her before I leave I'm more than a little nervous about what I see. She has a horrible scowl on her face. Nothing good can come of this. I hurry out to our usual table outside. I'm saddened when I don't see Brooke sitting at the table. I sit down and take out my bagged lunch. I'm still eating bagged lunches, which I've never seen Brooke have before. I take a bite out of my sandwich when I feel a vibration in my pocket. I pull out my cell phone to see I'm getting a call from Brooke.

"Hey baby. Where are you?"I must have sounded so pathetic.

"I'm so sorry Luke."Of course today would be the day she would miss lunch with me "I'm not going to be able to eat lunch at the table today."

"Is something wrong?"I'm immediately wondering what the hell is going on today. First Peyton goes all fatal attraction on me. And now Brooke's ditching me. Since its backwards day maybe I should go sit with Nathan.

"Nope. Nothing at all is wrong. I just felt like eating somewhere else today."And my worst fears are realized."I hope you don't mind." I knew it couldnt last. Not that I blame Brooke, shes a godess and I'm a poor bastard child.

"Not at all. Listen I have to go now. Skills is calling me."I lie. I can't take it anymore.

"I understand. Before you answer skills why don't you turn around for a second?"I'm confused about why she wants me to turn around. But I swivel myself on the bench and look behind me. Upon turning around I spy my beautiful girlfriend lying on the grass looking over at me. It's when she starts to laugh into the phone that I hang up. I walk to where she is and stand above her. "You sure you shouldn't go with skills. He was calling you right Luke."She's laughing at me, and for the first time all day I laugh too. I drop my bag and lay beside her. She leans over onto me and lays her head on my chest.

"That was a risky trick Brooke."She chuckles too herself.

"I think you'll find I'm a very tricky person baby." She lifts her mouth to mine and kisses me. "So anything interesting happen in class this morning?"

What do I say to that? Actually Brooke it was kind of interesting how your best friend was flirting with me all morning and then told our whole class how you're a whore. Something about that just makes me think twice about how I say it. "You go first Brooke."I need time to decide what I'm going to say. I barely hear Brooke as she enthusiastically tells me about how cheer practise went. I'm too much in my own head to fully hear her. I want to talk to her about what Peyton told me about the letter. She can't honestly believe that. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. That's why she mentioned Peyton the other day, that must be why she keeps stopping us from having sex.

"Are you listening Broody?"She gives me a puzzled look. I nod at her.

"So you and Peyton are pretty good friends?"

"Yeah she's been my best friend for years."She pauses for a moment and smiles before turning her attention back to me."Why do you ask?"Do I tell her the reason? That I want her to be careful about what she tells Peyton. Do I tell her that something's wrong with her best friend. Do I confront her about what Peyton told me. But the smile that is plastered all over her face at the mention of her friend Peyton makes me weak.

"No reason "And that's the moment I told my first lie to Brooke Davis. My heart is in physical pain after saying it. When I look at her eyes I see no sign of her being uncertain with my answer. She just smiles up at me before returning her head back to my chest. It's in that moment when I realise something about Brooke. She trusts me.

Sometimes I really hate myself.

The rest of the day goes by slowly.

* * *

I've been a zombie all afternoon. Being a zombie is not the best mood to be in when I have my first game to play in like an hour. Of course Brooke has cheer obligations so I was left alone to think at the river court. I feel like I'm being pulled along. My body is moving independently from my body. It barely registers when Keith and my mom come and pick me up from the River court. All I can think about is when me and Brooke parted after fifth period. She gave me a breathtaking kiss, winked at me and then left. She had wished me luck and again reminded me of how she would reward me after the game. I've discovered that I'm absolutely addicted to Brooke. She's all I think about. From the moment I wake in the morning, till when I close my eyes at night. It's her face that is plastered in my mind. I wonder whether I'll even be able to function once we have sex. When I enter the gym I look around for her. I spot her stretching with the whole team. She's laughing at Peyton who must have said something funny. As I'm staring over, Peyton sees me and sends me a smile. I shrug off the smile, but there's no way I can shrug it off when she manoeuvres her stretching so that I can see up her skirt. She then proceedes to run her hand up her leg towards her panties. This is getting out of hand. I should go over and tell Brooke what Peyton just did right in front of her. But when Brooke spots me and smiles at me, I'm torn. I really don't want to cause Brooke any unhappiness. In my arrogance I believe I can reason with Peyton. Make her understand I want Brooke and only Brooke. I'm interrupted by Nathan giving me a shoulder while he walks past me.

"You gonna get dressed loser? Or you joining the cheer squad." Tim and one of the other guys laugh at Nathan. I pull my bag back onto my shoulder and head into the change room. I'm getting dressed in silence when I feel someone pat me on the back. I quickly turn around.

"Jumpy Luke?"He has his hand on my shoulder

"Just a little Jake."I'm lying out my ass. I'm nearly shaking I'm so nervous.

"Well don't be. You're gonna be fine." He opens his locker and then turns back to me."Just don't let them take it."

"I don't know what that means."

"But you will "After that it's silent. Part of me is glad for the silence. But another part of me just wants something else to take my mind off everything. I look over at Nathan. He's just sitting there joking with Tim, not a care in the world. Its moments like this that I envy him. I look over at the clock and realize I have five minutes before the game starts. I better go to the bathroom before I go out there.

* * *

After my brief time in the bathroom I'm walking back to the dressing room when I see him. Any hope he's going to ignore me go out the window when he gives me a smug smile.

"I thought I saw you come out here."He walks up to me and try as I might to walk away, I find my feet are jelly. "Now I had hoped you were running away. You know doing the sensible thing and bowing out gracefully."He stepped closer to me, clearly trying to intimidate me. I'm not sure what's more pathetic. That he's trying to intimidate a 16 year old. Or that he's trying to intimidate his 16 year old son. "But I guess you're completely without sense."I want to resist him. Be an ass right back at him. But something about his presence intimidates me and I go soft.

"I'm not running away."

"And that would be why everyone thinks you're pathetic. You just can't get it through your head can you? Noone wants you on this team. Well maybe that hooker inside."He gives me a smug look.

"Don't talk about Brooke like that!"I yell it at him.

"I'm only warning you. She's almost as pathetic as your mother. You see your mother tried to have things that didn't belong to her. Kind of like you on this team. It didn't work out to well for her either."His eyes are so angry. I've never actually felt this threatened by someone. I mean people have intimidated me before, but something about the way he's looking at me frightens me to my core.

"I'm on this team. And I'm not going anywhere."I try to walk by him but he pushes me back.

"You see that's where you're wrong."He grabbed my collar "You see, I've been watching my son train for years and I refuse to let anyone ruin his chance at playing college ball."

"Even if that person is your son."I try to pull away but he just tightens his grip on my collar.

"Nathan and Riley mean everything to me. And you mean nothing. That's the difference." There's rage in his eyes, and I don't know if I've ever felt more pathetic and scared at the same time. I silently pray that someone will come. Someone will save me from this.

"Fine."I try to pull away again "Just let go of me."I struggle to get away from him but he just tightens his grip on my collar and then pulls his other hand up and grabs my shoulder.

"You will never tell me what to do! Ever!"He screamed it at me before grabbing my shoulders and tossing me against the wall. When I hit the wall my head connects first followed by my elbow which I swear I hear crack. And the way it bent was definitely not normal. I lay on the ground holding onto my elbow and nearly tearing up. When I gathered up enough strength to look up I was horrified. There wasn't remorse or the slight bit of concern on his face. The only emotions in his eyes were anger and disappointment. He walked over to me and started to try and pick me up. "You're so pathetic. Just get up and get out of here."I was fighting against him, which made it nearly impossible for him to get me up.

"What's going on here?"At the sound of the voice both me and Dan stopped struggling and looked towards the person.

"Just go back into the gym Riley, this does not concern you."I swear I saw her hesitate. But she still left. She just turned around and ignored the fact that Dan was clearly beating me up. His cold eyes turned back towards me and he let go of my shirt. He didn't say a word. He just turned around and walked out. Leaving me broken and near tears on the ground outside my dressing room. I pulled myself to sit against the wall. I had a killer headache from where I had hit the wall when he threw me, and my elbow felt really weird. After a minute of sitting there I heard the crowd cheering as the teams must have begun entering the gym. I pulled myself up, before falling back down when I put a little pressure on my elbow. I tried two more times before I finally managed to drag myself up and start walking out to the gym. When I appeared on the side lines I saw all the worried and confused looks. Before I had even got to the huddle Brooke was on me.

"Lucas are you okay?"She put her hand to my forehead "Oh my god how did you get this cut on your head?"

"I fell "And that was the second time I lied to Brooke, though I'm pretty sure it was such a lame lie it doesn't count. But if Whitey saw the cut on my head there was no way I would get to play.

"You did not fall. What happened?"I know she was trying to help but all these questions were starting to get to me and I was feeling really dizzy.

"I'm fine Brooke."I snapped at her, and when I saw the hurt look on her face I immediately felt even worse."I'm sorry for snapping Brooke. I promise after the game I'll get it checked out."She looked hesitant, but I silenced it with a quick kiss to her lips and then I jogged over to the huddle.

"Well Mr. Scott. I'm glad were finally graced with your attendance."He gave me a stern look and I just looked down. I looked down for a few reasons. I didn't want to meet his stare. I didn't want him to see my cut, which I was in the process of fixing by putting a sweat band around my forehead. And the final reason was because I was feeling so dizzy I could barely hold my head up. The team all put their hands in, and I struggled to put my arm in too. This struggle wasn't lost on Jake who sent me a concerned look. I lowered my head again. When the team let out our cry, I felt Jake pulling me along beside him onto the court. I saw Brooke staring at me with concern and I hated to worry her.

I took my position on the court, and watched as Nathan won the tip off to Jake. Jake started dribbling up the court but stopped at the three point line. He passed it over to Tim who looked around for Nathan, but wasn't able to find him so he passed the ball to me. I was wide open on the three point line. On a normal day I would make this shot nine times out of ten. But right now the basket was a blur and my arm was throbbing. I jumped up and released the shot. When I came back down I saw that it had completely missed the net, and had been more of a pass to their team then a shot. The next ten minutes didn't go any better. In fact when you count the giveaway I did, or the two more failed shots. It probably went worse. When Whitey waves me over to him I'm glad to finally be able to close my eyes.

* * *

Somehow I wake up to find myself in the dressing room. The room is still spinning but definitely not as bad as it was. I'm fully woken up by her voice.

"Lucas. Lucas wake up."I opened my eyes to see my angel standing in front of me. She looked beautiful standing there in her cheerleading outfit.

"Hi baby."She sat down beside me and put her head on my shoulder. "So I guess I didn't play so well."I try to laugh it off, but inside I'm screaming. She doesn't answer me though just nuzzles her head into my neck.

"You could barely walk straight. Please tell me what happened."She's looking up at me, and her eyes are pleading with me to tell her the truth. And for the first time today I tell the truth.

"Dan."She looks confused

"What do you mean? Did he bother you before the game?"

"I guess you could say that. He kind of threw me against the wall."Her confused look is gone. Replaced by a look of sheer horror. She sits straight up.

"What?"

"Listen. Can we talk about this later? I really just want to lay down with you. The world is still spinning a bit."

"Lucas we cannot ignore the fact that your father just abused you. I swear to god if I get my hands on him..."I connect my lips to her mouth to quiet her frustration. "I won't drop this Lucas. But if you want time I'll give you time."She moved in and kissed me again."But understand I'm not a patient person."She laughed, and though it hurt my head I laughed too.

"Thanks Brooke."

"You won't be thanking me when I'm cleaning that cut."Again we share a laugh. I'm always amazed at her ability to make me smile. She gets up from the bench and holds out her hand. "Come on boyfriend. Karen and Keith are waiting outside at my car for you."I give her a puzzled look. "I told them the team was gonna get chewed out for losing so they might as well just wait for you out there. I nod and then take her hand. She manages to pull my lifeless body all the way out the parking lot. My mom and Keith are good to not mention how I played. We talk for a few minutes before they tell me they have to go because they have something to do. They make up a lame excuse, when it's obvious there going out on a date. Considering how much I've wanted them to get together I'm not sure why they would hide it.

"Alright I'll see you later mom."She gives me a hug. I then turn and wave goodbye to Keith whose already in the truck.

"Goodbye Lucas."She then turns to Brooke "You take of my boy Brooke."And then their gone.

"You ready to go boyfriend?"

"There's nothing I want more then to get the hell out of here."

"Are you sure there's nothing you want more."She gives me a naughty smile

"Well I suppose I could think of a couple things."I scan my eyes all over her body, and she moves towards me bringing her lips directly in front of mine.

"Right answer."She pulls me into a kiss. Before I know it I have her lying on the front of her car and I'm on top kissing her. I nibble at her neck and she moans out a bit. I don't know how long were making out on the front of her car. I do know that I'm pretty pissed off when a car horn forces us to stop. We both get back into her car and drive to her house. I can't help but stare at her. I've rubbed some of her makeup off with our fooling around, and her hair is messy for the same reason. I don't care because staring at her now I'm mesmerized by her beauty. She smiles the whole way to her house, and I can't help but wonder if it's me that is making her smile. I wonder if her thoughts throughout the day are filled with me. If she has trouble just forming coherent thoughts when I'm around her. When we pull into her driveway she smiles over at me. "Come on Broody." She then skips out the car and to her front door.

By the time I reach the front door she's already inside. I don't see her right away when I enter, but a quick look around and I spot her. She's lying on the couch looking over at me. She biting her lower lip, which she knows turns me on beyond control. I slowly walk over to her, I guess slower then she would have liked because she pouts. When I reach her I run my hand along her leg and bask in how soft and toned her body is. I run my other hand up her other leg until I reach her skirt. This is the moment. There's no way out now. Not that I would ever want one. As I move in to kiss her she puts her hand in front of my mouth.

"We don't have to do this now, if you're not feeling up to it."I don't answer her I just connect my lips to her neck. This gets me a long pleasure filled moan from Brooke and she struggles to speak."Because...I know...your..."She finally gives up and pulls my lips to hers before wrapping her hands around the back of my neck. She moans my name in between kisses, and to say I'm turned on would be a complete understatement. I wrap my hands behind her back and pull her closer. No matter how close we get its never quite close enough. She removes her arms from my neck and starts pulling at the bottom of my shirt. I put my arms in the air to help her out before returning my lips to her. Her hands are now roaming all over my chest, and I can't help but moan her name. She pushes against me and before I know it she's on top of me kissing up my chest. She gets the moans she wants so she keeps kissing up my chest until she returns to my lips. I move my hands down to her ass enjoying the feel of her. I need her so much, I can't take it anymore.

"Brooke I need you." She smiles at me before briefly kissing me. She gets up off me before reaching her hand out for me. I take her hand and when I stand she reattaches her lips to mine. We remain kissing as we move towards the stairs, and after some struggle we make it halfway up the stairs. When we reach the halfway point Brooke pushes me against the wall and stars kissing me harder. Unfortunately when I hit the wall, I also hit a photograph on the wall which of course falls off. Brooke pulls away and starts laughing. "We have got to stop doing this on the stairs."She grabs my hand and pulls me along with her up the stairs. When we enter the room she lets go of my hand and pulls of her shirt, throwing it to the side. I move towards her but she holds out her arms and keeps me back. She then puts her arms to her hips and slowly takes her skirt off. Once she takes her skirt off I move towards her and kiss her. I need to kiss her everywhere, feel my lips against her skin. She pulls off me and falls back onto the bed. I don't think I've seen such a gorgeous thing in all my life before.

I enjoy the feeling of Brooke's body falling limp against me, of her giving up control, letting down her guard. I drag my thumb across the inside of her thigh, riding up higher and higher and I realize that I crave to watch her lose it, right here and now with me watching. But I'm still a 16 year old male and when she slips her hands underneath the waistband of my jeans and grips my erection through my boxer shorts, the thought evades my mind. The need between us is raw and open. She must be able to hear it, in my voice and she can definitely feel it warm and pulsating between her fingers. If I don't put a stop to it, it'll be over in a matter of seconds, so I gently pull her hand away. She is wearing far too much clothing for my taste and I need to feel her hot skin against mine.

And now I'm above her, my weight pushing her into the bed. She still has her panties on, but even now with my nervousness getting the better of me I'm still able to take her bra off. I move my lips down further and kiss her through her black panties, right _ther_e and I have no idea if I'm doing it right but I keep going using instinct and it doesn't seem to betray me because she lets out that little sound, that hiss from deep down in her throat. Its low and drawn out and probably the sexiest thing I've ever heard. She pulls me upwards to kiss her. She must be able to feel my erection through my jeans because she lets out a moan and then like a girl possessed starts ripping at my jeans. After what seems like an eternity of struggling with the resisting fabric she has rid me of my jeans and finally our naked bodies glide together in one beautiful, smooth motion. I start to get up to get a condom from the dresser but she pulls me back down. "I need you now "She grabs at my butt and pulls me into her. I know that I should get protection but down there where everything is soft and moist and aching and before I can stop it, her hips move upward a little,and she's so wet that my first few inches glide into her. She's there underneath me and it's all soft and wet and slippery and she moves so my tip glides down to her entrance and I don't know how but somehow I'm suddenly inside her. I'm shocked because it happens so fast and because were being so unbelievably reckless so I pull back.

"Wait" I whisper and the words are hot and moist against her neck. She halts and freezes and I can tell she's ashamed that she let herself get carried away like that.

"I'm sorry," she breathes and I nod into her shoulder and then I turn towards the dresser for a condom. There is an awkward little moment where I struggle to put it on because I'm so rushed. Then I'm hovering above her, and I hesitate a little. She looks into my eyes and she has to be able see how there glazed over with desire because she places her hands on my back and its slick with sweat and the muscles are tight from holding back and she lets her hands glide down to the curve of my ass and I follow her guidance and enter her. I let out an involuntary moan when I get all the way in and realise how amazing Brooke Davis feels. I'm inside her and she tilts her hips upwards and it startles me because she knows just what to do and she knows what it's doing to me. And also because it feels so fucking good and I feel my hips buckle in response. She does this really mean thing with her hips and giggles a little when she sees how my head falls backwards. I look back down at her. I'm trying to think of anything to make this last longer. I think about Margret Thatcher, I think about cold water, but nothing seems to work. She must notice my brooding.

"Are you thinking about basketball statistics?"She smiles at me

"Yes." It's barely a word, more like a sigh. "And of Tim in the shower."

"What?" She breaks out in a fit of laughter and her body shakes and I almost slide out of her again.

"It's the most un-erotic thing I could come up with."I grab her by the shoulders and press into her again. Her head flies back and she starts moaning my name. I thrust into her again and again. My body wants so badly to give in, but I refuse to stop until she's been completely pleasured. She starts to shake and her hands are clawing at my back.

"I'm...going to ...cum baby..."When she buries her head into my neck I know she's finished. I quicken my pace and I follow her into extasy. I lie on my back with Brooke curled up next to me. She leans over and rests her head on my chest while wrapping her arms around me. She starts to shiver so I pull the blanket over us and pull her closer to me. In the darkness of the room she looks so frail and small, and I hold her even closer. My fingers ache to touch her and my touching her doesn't cause her to moan so I turn to the side and bury my face in her hair.

* * *

I'm woken by Brooke Yelping out. "Shit!"

"What?" She answers by showing me the time on her phone

"I think its way past your curfew, boyfriend."I hop out of the bed and start collecting my clothes.

"My mom's gonna kill me."I try to get all my clothes but I had tried to put my pants on which I was now tripping over. This of course causes Brooke to laugh at me. "Stop laughing Brooke." Brooke is still giggling. "You know she's gonna ground me for like a week, right?"This is when Brooke stops laughing and begins to hunt down her clothes as well. Once we finally manage to finish getting dressed we get into Brookes car and I hop into the driver seat and start driving home. The drive is quiet but comfortable. Brooke has pulled the center console up and is lying on me while I drive. She's wearing my sweater which she refuses to give me back I might add. She's gently rubbing my leg with her hand and her touch is sending Goosebumps up and down my leg. When I stop out-front of my place I'm sad. I'm not ready to leave her yet, I'm not ready to feel empty. So I pull her close to me and kiss her on the top of the head. When I look into her eyes I know for certain that I love her.

I know most people will say that I'm too young to know. But I know that I love this girl and never want to be without her. And I'd like to see anyone try and prove that wrong. I finally let go and she gets out of her side of the car and walks around to my side. She's standing right in front of me her face nestled against my neck, and I can feel her hot breathe on me. Her hands are on my waist and I pull her close to me and kiss her. Her lips are warm and soft and sweet and she kisses back, earnestly, truthfully. I'm kissing her slowly, gently, like a dance and her head is humming and I can almost feel her melting into my touch. I want to make her feel safe and secure and most of all I want her to be happy. I try and find the words to tell her how much this meant to me. To try and explain how much I love her. To put into words how she's the first thing I think about when I open my eyes and the last thing when I close them.

"There are no words Brooke." She pulls her head from my neck and looks up at me.

"No words for what?"She says it so sweetly that I just want to get back in the car and ravish her again. But I know that I can't. She's it for me. She's long term not some sex object that I'd fuck outside my mothers house.

"There are no words to describe how I feel about you."She opens her mouth to speak."Just let me finish."She nods "I've loved you since the first day I saw you. And I know that you're confused about everything, but I just want you to know you were never second place to Peyton. I love you Brooke, not Peyton. Your my everything now Brooke. And I know..."

"I love you too "If someone took a picture of me in this moment I must look like an idiot. The shock that I feel is so much that I feel lost for words. "I was just too stupid to realize it back then." She smiles up at me again. She then connects her lips with mine. Her hot lips are like heaven and I feel tingling all over my body. She pulls back and looks at me right in the eyes. "I love you Lucas Scott."

* * *

**Authors Note**: And there you have it. The next chapter is the Brooke and Riley blowups as well as Peyton's plan.

**BDavisLScott23**: I have no idea what to say. That was an amazing Review. The main reason for Brooke not freaking out yet is because Lucas has been bottling it in and not telling her. Believe me as I've said there is trouble on the horizon that will make Brooke freak. This story is going to be long so down the road Rachael with be appearing. As for Luke being too good a person. I always felt he became corrupt in season 1 much quicker than I thought he should have. His mother raised him well, and I try to put that forth in this. But remember everyone has their breaking point perhaps next chapter we will see Lucas's. I'm pretty sure a lot of people will freak out about how crazy Dan was in this. As I said when I started this, Dan in my eyes is very evil and I will portray him that way for now. He does have a heart it's just very hidden. I tried to show how Haley and Lucas drifted in this chapter. Her moving spots and such. As for the Brucas hot scenes. I think this chapter was the culmination of all of that. As always thank you very for your review Michelle. I count on your reviews to adjust things way too much lol. PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING LOL

**EliteDarkLord-DragonSlayer-3.1**: All evil people get what's coming too them.

**Reviewandrun**: I wish I could say you were wrong about that but this chapter shows how much Peyton has fallen. Long term she will be with Jake but as I said this is going to be a long story so I'm in no hurry to make her sane lol. Lucas wont cheat though.

**Sophiabush 123**: glad you like Brucas. And yes Dan and Haley are bad people.

**Queen08**: Glad you like the story, and hope to get more reviews from the Queen.

**Softball33**: Aww softball your one of my favourite reviewers


	9. I have a bad feeling

**Author's Note**: Thanks so much for all the reviews, its very appreciated. Were getting closer and closer to 100 reviews. I know with all you excellent reviewers we can get there.

This chapter has a lot of brucas. But we also have a Riley / Brooke fight. Nathan / Haley fight. And finally another Lucas / Nathan fight lol. Hopefully this chapter is a god lead up to showing that Nathan might have bigger issues past just hating lucas. Riley's issues will be explored next chapter.

Oh and for those who like them, there's some Karen and Kieth as well lol

Anyway Read and Review.

* * *

**Chapter 9**: I have a really bad feeling

I love you Lucas Scott.

The moment she said those words, was also the moment that I felt happier than I ever thought I could feel. To have the person who you care most about in the world tell you that they love you, is a feeling that's out of this world. It fills you with strength. Makes you want to be more than you ever thought you could be. And as we stand outside my house, I want nothing more than to just spend the rest of the night with her. "You honestly have no idea how long I've dreamed about you saying that." I put my hands on her cheeks and she looks up at me and smiles.

"I think I have an idea."We just stand there on my lawn holding each other, for what feels like forever. I'm just holding her trying to work up the courage to ask her to come inside, and spend the night with me. I know I'm being selfish in asking her to stay the night. I mean I'm jeopardizing her relationship with my mother, a relationship that I know means a lot to Brooke. But holding her now I find myself unable to be rational.

"Brooke...do want to come inside?"She pulls back a bit and looks at me.

"There's nothing I want more then to go to sleep wrapped in your arms." She pauses and I smile down at her. "But...we can do that once your mother leaves on Monday."I pout my face at her. "Pout all you want boyfriend but you're not going to tempt me into your bed."I move in and start kissing her neck in the places I know drive her crazy. She lets out a little moan and I'm hoping my strategy will convince her. She throws her hands around the back of my neck and starts kissing me. Before I know it our tongues are battling for entrance. Her lips are hot on mine, and I can feel myself getting into it. She moves her lips down to my neck and starts nibbling. I hate that she knows just the way to turn me on. I go to kiss her again but she pulls back this time and smiles. I give her a confused look."That is for turning me on." She steps away from me and moves towards her car. "Enjoy your cold shower, and I'll see you in the morning when you pick me up." She smiles and then gets in her car. As I stand there watching her start the car she opens the passenger window and leans towards it so I can see her better. "Hey Luke." She waves me over, and I walk over to her car before leaning on the passenger window. "I love you Luke."She smiles

"What are you smiling about?"Her smiling does make me smile in return though.

"Nothing. It's just I would have never guessed that I'd love saying that as much as I do."

"I Love you too Brooke."

"You better. I'll see you in the morning."She blew me a kiss before driving away.

Like I said. There's nothing quite like having the person you love say they love you back.

Once her car was out of view I turned around and walked back to my door. Slowly entering my room and changing into clothes more fit for sleeping. I lay down in my bed and tried to go to sleep. I tried the whole night to fall asleep, but it seemed that the adrenaline from being with Brooke has finally run its course and I was now feeling all the pain. My head hurt a little less each hour but my elbow it seemed might be a little more damaged then I had hoped. I think what bothered me the most about what happened was their ability to just walk it off. My father threw me against the wall and then looked at me as if I did something wrong. When I was younger I used to lie in bed and image what he would be like. I heard what my mom had told me. About how he had abandoned us, and didn't care anymore. But I just really couldn't believe that he was that evil. I guess that's was where I went wrong. The look on Dan's face wasn't the only one that surprised me though. When I saw Riley, I swear for a second she looked like she felt bad. Like she cared about me, or at the least had compassion for me. I hate that I want them to care.

Eventually I feel asleep.

* * *

I wake up to my alarm clock, which unfortunately went off at five. I had to get up ridiculously early because I had to walk to Brooke's house. One of the worst things about dating someone so much richer then me was the distance between our houses. I got dressed and I had enough time to quickly have something to eat. When I walked into the kitchen my mom was already sitting at the dinner table with Keith. When I came into their eye line my mother gave me an embarrassed look.

"Lucas...what are you doing up this early?"When I saw the messed up hair on Keith I knew what had happened. I smiled and looked at them.

"Did you two...you know."I was trying my hardest not to laugh. After an awkward couple seconds of them exchanging glances, Keith stepped in and took the floor.

"I just came over to finalize, what were going to be doing once your mother leaves for Italy."My mom nodded along with him.

"And the only time you could find to do that was five in the morning?"I had my arms crossed and they were looking between each other like two conspirators trying to find the right lie to tell. To be honest I'd dreamed of this moment. I have always wanted them to be together.

"Well I have a lot of work to do at the garage and..."Keith looked to my mom to finish for him

"And...I'm very busy at the cafe."They looked very pleased with their story.

"If that's your story. I'm just going to grab some toast and then I'm heading to Brooke's." They looked between each other. "What?" This time my mom stepped up.

"It's nothing." I gave her a sceptical look, she didn't respond but luckily Kieth did.

"It's just I'd never imagined you get up at five o'clock for anything."Keith laughed and then my mom said.

"Well, let's not forget when he was ten."Keith looked at my mom, clearly not knowing what had happened when I was ten.

"Mom can we please not."I looked down at my feet to hide my blushing face.

"Oh Lucas, don't be so embarrassed."She then turned back to Keith." You see when Lucas was ten, we had a paper delivery girl who would deliver the paper at five in the morning. And poor Lucas would get up every day at five. Then wait at the window to catch a glimpse of her. You had such a crush on that girl." Keith started laughing.

"Well now that we have that out of the way, I'm going to take what's left of my dignity and head out."Keith and my mom both laughed. When I was almost at the door my mom called out to me.

"You will sit down and eat breakfast."I started to protest. "End of discussion."

My mom always did know how to go from buddy to drill sergeant.

* * *

After I was done eating breakfast, I said goodbye and prepared to start the forty minute walk to Brooke's house. Once I walked out the door I noticed that Brooke's car was parked in the driveway. I walked up to her side of the car and looked in the window. She was fast asleep holding onto her backpack like a teddy bear. She looked so tired, and I can't help but feel bad for keeping her up so late. Of course that doesn't quite explain why she's parked in my driveway at five in the morning. I quickly walked to the passenger side of the car and knocked on the window. I watched as her eyes fluttered open. She looked startled at first but quickly unlocked the doors. "Brooke, what are you doing here so early?"She looked at me and I could tell she was deciding in her head what her answer was going to be.

"Thought I'd save you the walk."So she took the easy way out. She had lowered her face when she said it, so she wasn't lying while looking me in the eyes. I put my hand beneath her chin and moved it up so she was looking at me again.

"You can tell me anything Brooke you know that right?"I smiled at her. She looked hesitant though, and maybe even a little embarrassed.

"It's not a big deal really. My parents still aren't home yet, and it was really quiet in the house. So I gave up trying to sleep around two. I had a shower, got dressed and headed over here."

"How long have you been out here?"

"Like...three."She looked down again.

"Why didn't you knock on my door, or at least call me. I would have let you stay with me."

"I know you would have. And frankly that's all I wanted to do but..."

"But what?"

"But what your mother thinks of me is really important to me. And I don't want to go jeopardising that because I can't cope without you."This was my first glimpse at Brooke's home life.

"Are they usually away like this?"She just nodded. I moved in and pulled her into a hug. When our bodies connected I felt her tighten her grip on me. "I'm here now. I'm never letting go of you." She looked up at me.

"Promise?"Her eyes looked so sad and vulnerable. The girl sitting opposite me was so different from the carefree girl that everyone else saw. I pulled her in to a hug again before kissing her on the top of the head.

"I promise."

* * *

When we arrived at school, it was just like the first day we had started dating. Everyone was staring and whispering. Of course the reason for the staring and whispering this time was my embarrassing play on the court. Just like on that day I lowered my head, and just like on that day Brooke just squeezed my hand and smiled at me. As we were about to enter the school a voice stopped us.

"You got balls to come here after the way you played."

"Yeah, I guess another thing I got from our dad Nathan."I put extra emphasis on the "our". Students started circling around, everyone wanting to see the next big fight. Riley and Haley both walked up as well.

"I guess you had to get something right. You sure didn't get talent." The crowd all laughed. Brooke was rubbing my back reassuringly.

"Will see who has more talent, in the next game."

"You mean if coach ever lets a loser like you play again. Dan is gonna make sure your pathetic ass never plays again." Before I could make a comeback Brooke stepped in.

"Wow Nathan, you're gonna get Daddy to help you out. That's not pathetic at all."The crowd started to laugh, which made Nathan angrier then I think I've ever seen him before.

"And the whore speaks at last."Riley stepped in, which caused Brooke to let go of my hand and step towards Riley.

"I can't believe you finally said it to my face, you conniving bitch."I laughed along with the crowd at this one.

"There was never any reason to say it to your face. Everyone knows it. And soon enough Lucas will too. It might take him awhile, he clearly doesn't have much brain if he'd hook up with a slut like you."Brooke moved nearly directly in Riley's face. I moved closer to try and pull her back, while Nathan moved closer as well. Clearly ready to attack me.

"What I do with Lucas is none of your concern."

"Oh I don't care in the slightest. For all I care you losers can screw till the cows come home."When she finished speaking Peyton walked in behind us. "Well if it isn't Lucas's first choice."Me and Brooke turn around and see Peyton.

"Why do you care so much about him Riley, why can't you just mind your own damn business? Maybe if you had a love life of your own you wouldn't be so obsessed with Lucas's."She was back in Riley's face. Riley just laughed at her.

"I guess if you can call Lucas settling for you a love life."I could almost see the steam come out of Brooke's ears when Riley said that. Before I could stop her she had slapped Riley in the face and was now on top of her hitting her. They were screaming at each other, and both me and Nathan were trying to get our respective people off each other. I finally was able to pull Brooke off Riley. "You're done Brooke! I'm gonna ruin you!" Riley screamed at Brooke.

"Stay the hell away from us you bitch!"They were both still trying to get to each other. But I was slowly pulling her towards the doors to the school while Nathan was pulling Riley the other way. If only I would have known that there was a certain blonde haired girl listening very intently, and hatching a plan to help Riley and her get what they wanted.

* * *

When I had finally got Brooke inside I pulled her into the janitor's room.

"I can't believe what a bitch she is."Brooke's eyes were filled with rage, and if not for the circumstances I would have found her ridiculously hot. Who am I kidding I still find her ridiculously hot right now.

"I'm sorry about what she said Brooke. But you know she's just trying to get a rise out of you. None of that is true."She gave me a thankful look.

"You know Lucas. You're the first person to ever tell me I'm anything other than a slut."She smiled at me and I was glad I was calming her down.

"Well it's true."

"It's not completely true."She looked down, clearly ashamed. But I quickly pulled her chin back up to my level.

"What you did before doesn't define who you are. What you do now is who you are, like the way you hold my hand when you know that I'm nervous, or how you just defended me in front of the whole school. When you could have just as easily walked away. How about how you want my mother to approve of you. It's those things that make me love you."

"I really don't deserve you Luke."A tear fell down her cheek and I immediately moved in and kissed her on the cheek. She kissed my forehead and then wrapped her arms around me. It was funny how romantic it felt holding Brooke in the grungy janitors closet. Her face was buried in my neck and I could feel her tears on my skin. I hated that I couldn't protect her from the pain of this. If it wasn't for me she would have never been in this situation. If I was a man I would let go of Brooke and let her live a happy life with someone who's worthy of touching her perfect skin. If I was a man I would make sure no one ever talked to Brooke like that again. I was against the wall, and I could feel what I assume was a broom sticking into my back. But if I got to hold Brooke, it seemed worth it. She finally broke the silence when she spoke through her sobs into my neck. "Can we just stay like this forever?" I wanted to tell her that we could. But I knew the world was still very much outside and there was never going to be a way out of that. But perhaps it was time to make sure it was my world, and not theirs.

"I wish Brooke."

"Well, can we at least stay here for a few more minutes?"The vulnerability in her voice made it impossible for me to say no. I knew I had a test in first period but I really didn't care. I pulled her closer to me before answering.

"Of course."

We spent the next forty minutes just holding each other in the janitor's closet. Despite the obvious problems with the room, I wouldn't have spent my first period any other way.

* * *

Thankfully Peyton was MIA from out second and third period class so the morning went by pretty quickly. I left class and met Brooke at our table. She was already there, and she looked beautiful. There was something so addicting about Brooke Davis. It didn't quite matter if I had seen her for three straight days, I just craved her the second she was gone. When I sat down she greeted me with a kiss.

"How was your morning boyfriend?"

"It went by quickly."I wanted to tell her about Peyton, but once again I lost my backbone. "How was yours?" As Brooke went about explaining what had happened in the morning between Bevin, and Theresa I couldn't help but be distracted by the royal table. Nathan and Haley were the only ones at the table, with Riley nowhere to be seen along with the rest of the mindless herd that followed them. It looked like they were in some kind of argument by the way Nathan was throwing his arms around, and Haley had her head down. I interrupted Brooke by pointing my finger over towards their table.

"What's going on over there?" Brooke looked over to Nathan and Haley.

"Who cares." And she was right. Why should I care about what was happening? I nearly jumped up when I saw what happened next. Haley stood up from the table and spilt her cafeteria plate all over Nathan. A plate that I must add was completely full of food. She proceeded to walk towards the school completely ignoring Nathan's calls. Nathan stopped yelling after her, and started to glare down all the students that were staring at his food covered clothes. After he had collected his stuff, he got up from the table and stormed into the school, leaving behind a whole school full of confused students. "Well looks like trouble in paradise." Brooke smiled at me

"Yeah. Looks like it." I tried to sound happy but a part of me felt torn by this. It had made it easier to be without Haley, when I at least thought she was happy.

* * *

When I walked in to my fifth period class and saw how infuriated Nathan looked, I knew it was going to be a long class. I sat down on the table opposite him, and held the chair beside me for Brooke who had texted me saying she was going to be like twenty minutes late for class. She had forgotten her assignment at home, when she had drove to my house this morning and of course it was due today.

It was actually kind of creepy how he wouldn't move his stare from me. He just glared and glared at me. I tried looking down at the desk. I tried reading a book, but nothing seemed to avert his glare.

When the teacher walked in I immediately put my hand up. He saw my hand up.

"Yes Lucas what is it?"He said it kindly and I remembered why I liked this class so much. Besides the fact that I loved English, Mr. Java was one of the few teachers at this school who didn't have pictures of Dan Scott on their wall. He was trying to do what seemed to sound crazy to the rest of the teaching faculty. He was trying to teach us.

"I just wanted to say that Brooke's going to be a few minutes late. She had to go home and grab her assignment." He nodded at me before returning to what he was doing before. I heard Nathan let out a loud huff noise, which was loud enough that it got the teachers attention.

"Is there something you wanted to add Nathan?"

"I just think its funny how you let Lucas get away with whatever he wants."Mr. Java looked shocked at Nathan's outburst.

"I'm sorry. I don't believe I gave Lucas any preferential treatment. The last time I checked he was passing on a message from Miss Davis." I laughed quietly at the fact that Nathan probably didn't know what preferential treatment meant. He heard my laughter, and he did not look impressed. He bolted to his feet.

"Something you find funny bastard?"

"You will sit down right now Mr. Scott, or I will have you removed from my class."He clearly ignored what the teacher ordered him to do because he just kept standing there waiting for my answer. I tried not to laugh, but seeing him standing there with rage all over his face I couldn't help myself, and I let out another tiny laugh.

"That is the last time you ever laugh at me you bastard."He grabbed the textbook off his desk and whipped it at me. Unfortunately in his rage he didn't have the foresight to see what was going to happen if I dodged the textbook. When I lowered my head and the text book flew past me, it went straight for the window. You know how in the movies when something is about to smash a window there's always silence. Well, that was one of those things I guess Hollywood got right, because the moment before the textbook smashed through the window the entire room was silent. I turned around to watch the window smash into a thousand pieces. In that moment I saw regret on Nathan's face. It was weird seeing something other than rage on his face. But at least he showed some depth before he charged at me. Before he could get to me though basically the whole class was up and between him, including the teacher who in Nathan's rage he pushed over.

"You get out of my classroom right now!"The teacher screamed at him. Nathan looked at me with pure hate before turning around, grabbing his bag and storming out of the class. The class was frozen for the next twenty minutes just cleaning up the mess left by Nathan's psychotic rage fit. I'm pretty sure we would have remained in a near comatose state if not for Brooke walking in. She opened the door and quickly skipped over to the teacher's desk. She clearly didn't notice how our table had been pushed away from the now broken window.

"I'm sorry for being late Mr. Java."The teacher nodded. Brooke took her assignment out of her bag and handed it to Mr. Java. "Here's my assignment, I hope I didn't miss too much."

"You didn't miss a thing Miss Davis."He smiled at her before shooing her towards her spot beside me. She sat down beside me before turning towards me and whispering

"Why is the table over here and why the hell is the whole class acting like zombies?"I tried to think of how I could tell her about what just happened, but I settled on just turning her around to look at the broken window. "What the hell happened there?"

"Let's just say Nathan got a little upset." She gave me a confused look before starting to say something. She was interrupted by the door to the classroom opening and Whitey, and the principle walking in. They walked over to the teacher who must have been explaining to them what happened. They kept looking over at me and the window, and I would have started to freak out had it not been for Brooke's hand absentmindedly rubbing my leg. The principle walked out of the class, and Whitey walked over to me.

"Could you please come with me son?"He put his hand on my shoulder in what I'm assuming was an attempt to show me that I wasn't in trouble.

"Sure Coach." I started to grab my stuff, when Brooke put her hand on my arm.

"It's fine Luke I'll take care of this. You go." She moved in and kissed me on the cheek causing Whitey to make a coughing noise.

"I'm coming coach."I mouthed I love you to Brooke, and she smiled at me. I love how when she smiles at me her dimples are fully out. It's like she has a smile that's just for me.

I followed behind Whitey who was walking rather quickly down the hallway. He finally stopped and turned into the main office. I followed him in, and he held the door open to the principal's office for me. When I entered I saw that Nathan was already sitting down.

"What is that bastard doing here?"

"You're brother Lucas is here so that we can hear his side of what happened with the window." He scoffed before returning to staring out the window. The principal shook his head at Nathan before returning his eyes to me. "In your own words Lucas would you please tell me what happened?"

"Not much to say, Nathan threw a textbook through a window because I laughed." Nathan didn't say anything just sat in his chair staring out the window.

"Is that what happened Nathan?"

"Who the hell cares what he says?"Nathan screamed out while pointing at me.

"You will watch your language in this room or you might as well just kiss playing basketball goodbye."

"You really think I care about that?"Whitey looked hurt, and I felt for him. "Kick me off the team, what does it matter?"Whitey put his hand on Nathan's arm.

"What's going on with you son?" Nathan looked up at him and for a second his tensed features softened, and I thought he was going to say something honest. But as quickly as his features had softened, they grew angry again.

"What's going on with me?"He nearly yelled it out. "He's what the fuck is going on with me. He's ruining everything." I jumped in on this one.

"What am I doing to you? Last time I checked I didn't fucking throw a textbook at you in class." He started to get up to charge at me, but Whitey grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down.

"I've had it with this bull shit." He pushed past Coach Durham and opened the door. As he was almost out the door Principal Turner's voice boomed out.

"If you walk out that door Nathan you're off the team." I watched as Nathan's eyes went crazy. His body stood there transfixed; clearly he was struggling with what he was going to do. I think this was the first time I felt anything towards him other then anger. His features once again softened and he went to say something. As he was going to speak I saw his eyes spot me and like he was remembering some horrible act committed against him his face grew angry again. He just turned around and walked out of the room. Whitey sat down in the chair that Nathan had just occupied. There was silence for a minute before Whitey turned towards me.

"Looks like we're going to be relying on you on Monday."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that with Nathan gone, you're going to have to carry the load."

"You saw what happened last game Coach. I don't think I can play at this level.

"Bullshit Lucas. You were injured."

"I wasn't injured." I said it, but even I didn't believe it.

"Then why did you have a cut on your forehead? And explain to me why you could barely lift your arm?"Both Coach Durham and Turner stared at me waiting for my answer. There was no point in lying now, it was pretty clear they weren't going to hear anything but the truth.

"Yeah I guess I should have told you."They stayed silent waiting for me to finish. "I'm fine now, and I'll be ready to play on Monday."

"I know you are son." He then waved me out the door. A request I took with great pleasure. When I got to the hallway I took out my cell. I had a missed text from Brooke telling me to meet her at her car. I texted her back saying I'd be right there, I just had to grab a book from my locker. As I walked down the hallway towards my locker I saw them standing together.

Seeing Peyton and Riley laughing together wouldn't have usually brought on any kind of suspicion. But the way they were talking I couldn't help but get a cold feeling up my spine. When they saw me Riley leaned against my locker, while Peyton walked down the hallway towards me. "Hey Luke." Her face looked so happy when she said it.

"Peyton."I said it with no emotion, hoping she'd get the message. But when she took a step closer to me it was pretty obvious I was going to have to more direct.

"I heard what happened in class."She put her hand on my arm.

"Peyton stop."I pulled away.

"Why would I stop Lucas? Don't you feel what I feel?"She tried to move closer to me but I moved past her and started walking towards my locker again. When I looked at my locker I saw that of course Riley was still leaning on it. Peyton followed in behind me and grabbed my shoulders causing me to turn around. "You feel it I know you do."

"No I don't. I don't feel anything towards you anymore."

"Because of Brooke?"The smile on her face was gone now, replaced by anger.

"I love Brooke."She didn't respond, she just threw herself on me. She thrust her lips on me, which I immediately stopped by pushing her off me. It felt so wrong having anyone but Brooke's lips touching mine. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" I screamed at her.

"We belong together. You'll see." And with that she walked away. I watched her retreating figure, and realized almost immediately how bad this was going to make things. I would have to tell Brooke and then Brooke and Peyton wouldn't be friends anymore. I hated to break up their friendship but Brooke needed to know how fucked up Peyton is right now. I was brought out of my daydreams by Riley's laughter. I turned around

"Is there something funny?"

"Only how screwed you are."

"And how do you figure that?"

"Brooke needs to understand that no one. I mean no one makes a fool of me. She embarrassed me, so now I'm going to take the most important thing in her life away from her."

"I won't let you hurt Brooke."

"You play the white knight very well Luke. Unfortunately it's already done. I almost feel bad about what's going to happen."She started to laugh. "Wait, who am I kidding it's going to be hilarious." And with that she turned around and walked away. I opened my locker and grabbed my book, before starting to walk towards the exit. I was walking along the quad when I got this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. What the hell was Riley going to do to Brooke? No matter what she tried I had to stop her. There was no way in hell that I would let her hurt Brooke. As I got closer to Brooke's car she got out and ran towards me. When she reached me she jumped in my arms. She wrapped her legs around my back and gave me a kiss on the lips. Normally I would have objected to this kind of PDA but as it was I needed to feel Brooke so much that I was willing to ignore the stares and whistling by the few students left in the parking lot.

"Brooke. Are your parent's home?" She let out a short chuckle.

"Lucas, they're not going to be home for weeks." She pressed her lips back onto mine, and then started nibbling my neck on spot she knew I loved. "Why do you ask boyfriend."She said in between kissing my neck.

"I need to be with you Brooke. Like really be with you" I raised my eyebrows at her to show her what I mean by that.

"You dirty boy. Lucky for you, I kind of like you."

"Oh you do?

"Yep."She let go of my back with her legs, and stood on her feet again. "Well hurry up then boyfriend because you're getting lucky tonight."

* * *

The drive to her house was quick. That was mainly because Brooke was driving well above the speed limit. When we entered her house I started kissing her, but she swatted me off her. "I don't think so." I gave her a confused look. "As good kisser as you are. Last time we kissed like this I had to spend a hundred dollars replacing a picture frame."We both laughed at that memory. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs. When we entered her bedroom, she immediately started kissing me. While kissing me her hands went to the buckle of my pants, and she quickly undid them. I followed suit and helped her out of her pants. She pushed me down onto the bed before taking her shirt off. She slowly manoeuvred her way down to me and started pulling up my shirt. After getting it off, she started laying butterfly kisses all along my chest.

My hands nearly instinctively went to her panties, and she moved her legs so that I rip them off her. She started rubbing me on the outside of my boxers, and when I felt as if I couldn't hold it anymore, she thankfully stopped rubbing me, and went into her drawer to get a condom. It was much easier to put on this time, and she adjusted herself over top of me so that I could ease my way into her. She moaned out my name, and I couldn't believe how much her moaning turned me on. I could feel just how turned on she was, as I pumped in and out of her. I thrust in and out of her for what seemed like forever. I felt her tense up around me, and she littarly started screaming out.

I wasn't ready yet. Something told me that Brooke was hurting, that she needed to feel better. At this point I didn't quite know the words to make her feel better so I suppose this would have to suffice.

As I started to thrust into her again, her wetness nearly overcame me. But using every ounce of restraint I had I held on, thrusting again and again into her. She started moving quicker on top of me, and I could feel her starting to tense up again. Her fingers drew carvings into my back but I didn't care. She finally stuffed her head into my hair before slowing her pace. I could feel that she had gone over the edge again and this time no amount of composure was going to hold me back. I thrust faster and faster before I eventually spilled out into her.

This time she didn't roll off. She just lay on top of me while I was still inside her. "That was..."She was breathing heavy and her body was nearly shaking. The shaking of course didn't help considering I was still inside of her. "I like can't get enough of you Lucas. I need you all the time." She started kissing me again, and I could almost feel myself hardening again. Her tongue entered my mouth and moved around like an explorer. She was kissing me and I could feel the need as she kissed me again and again. "I can't lose you Lucas." She was moving her lower body up and down me. My state didn't allow for her to be rough but I could tell she was trying to get me going again.

"You'll never lose me Brooke." She kisses my neck again, and with that I felt myself growing again. She moved up from kissing my neck and looked at me smiling.

"Someone's ready for round two." She smiled before lifting herself up and down on me. It felt so good to be with her, like I was dead and in heaven. I can only hope that heaven is a quarter as nice as being inside Brooke.

* * *

When she had finished me off a second time she lifted up and allowed me to pull out of her. When I was out she laid back down, finding her favourite spot on my chest. Her face was rested on my shoulder and she was drawing invisible figure eight's on my chest. "Do you have to go home?

"Unfortunately I do. I think I might actually be home before curfew for once." She chuckled at this. She sat herself up and walked into the bathroom. Watching her walk when she was completely naked was perhaps the most perfect thing I've ever seen. I can't honestly believe that such a perfect thing can exist. A girl that is so absolutely beautiful that I can't breathe around her. And so kind and thoughtful that I feel loved every minute I'm with her. I got dressed in her bedroom while she finished whatever she was doing in the bathroom. When she returned she was in her nightgown. She sat beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. This was an absolutely perfect moment.

But I also knew this was the moment that I should tell her. Tell her everything that was going on.

"Brooke, I need to tell you something."She lifted her head off my shoulder and stared at me.

"Am I going to like what you're going to tell me?" She looked so innocent when she said it, and I nearly went soft.

"No you're not."She shook her head.

"Then I don't want to know." She returned her head to its resting place on my shoulder.

"It's really..."I started to say but she put her hand on my lips to quiet me.

"Do you love me?" Her voice was so sweet and innocent.

"Of course I do." She had removed her head from my shoulder and she now had her hands on my shoulders

"Do you still want me and only me?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all I need to know."

"But Brooke it..." She shushed me before falling straight back onto the bed.

"It can wait till tomorrow. Because right now I'm recovering from the best sex of my life, and I'm in love for the first time. Just let me enjoy it for one night."

I can't believe she just said I was the best she'd ever had. Maybe she was just saying that because, thats what girlfriends say to their boyfriends. But looking down at her lying on the bed, with her chest moving up and down I couldn't help but hope she meant it.

"Best ever huh."

"Shut up Lucas."She slapped me on the arm before laughing. "Now you get home before you get in trouble. Take my car so you don't get sexually harassed along the way." We both shared a laugh at that one. But I couldn't help but think how a blonde haired girl a few houses down from my house might make that less than a joke. I started walking towards her door but turned around as I stood in the doorway.

"I really love you Brooke."I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"That's good because I love you too."She then shooed me away.

As I walked out the front door of her house and got into her car. I couldn't help but feel like that night was perfection. When I was with Brooke I felt so complete. I felt like no matter how screwed up the world was, as long as I was with her everything would somehow work itself out.

"But when I drove past Peyton's house and pulled into my driveway, I also got a much different feeling. I felt like my happiness was built on a foundation of sand. Something about the way Riley said that her plan was already done really scares me. I know she's probably just blowing hot smoke, but I can't help but worry. When I look out the window of my room at Peyton's house and see Riley's car pull into the driveway I'm sure of it.

I have a really bad feeling.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Kind of an ominous end to the chapter but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm sure some of you can guess what's going to happen.

Next chapter is going to be from a few people perspective, so it should be interesting. Its Lucas's second game, as well as Karen leaving for Italy.

If anyone has anyone they'd like to see me writing through their perspective send me a P.M.

**Brucas Lover 135:**Lol I'm glad I shocked you. And I had totally wrote the scene first as Haley coming in and helping him. But I felt like it was too early for Haley and Lucas. I think she may be hitting rock bottom, but until Lucas hits rock bottom I couldn't let her back in yet.

**BrOoKe DaViS23**: We'll be learning more about Dan and why he is the way he is in the coming chapters. He might not be so unaffected as it appears. Hope you liked the brucas action in this one too.

**juicetroop82:** Thanks very much for the review.

**EliteDarkLord-DragonSlayer-3.1:**I totally agree with you on the Nathan and Lucas being friends comment. Other then Haley (Whose friendship with I ironically destroyed lol) and Lucas my favorite friendship is Lucas and Nathan. Eventually there might be a reconciliation hint hint.

**Reviewandrun:** Yes Dan and Peyton have serious issues. We'll be seeing a lot more of Peyton's craziness in the coming chapters.

**dianehermans:**Well I suppose they can do it more as proven by this chapter. Thanks for the review.

**softballer33**: Might be a little while before Riley gets to that point. But her moment will come.

**Snowboardergirl2009:**Wow thanks for reading the story. I read all your reviews, and I thank you for all of them. I'm glad you found the Tim in the shower funny, so did I.

**Cheery&broody**: Thanks for the update Megan. I missed your update last chapter lol. Glad you liked the sex scene. I think there's a pattern on people liking it lol. And you better update next chapter and finally actually get an account lol.

**Thanks VERY MUCH too everyone elce who read the chapter.**


	10. It's A Wonderful Life

**Authors note: Thanks for all the reviews as always I really appreciate your reviews**

**I really have no words for the massive delay so I hope some of you are still around.**

**Without further talking on to chapter 10**

* * *

**Chapter 10****: It's a wonderful life.**

I'm lying in bed with my arms wrapped around the most perfect girl I've ever met, when it hits me. My life is pretty much perfect right now. Sure my mom is leaving for Italy today, and I have more enemies at school then I can count. But when I'm holding her close to me, I realize that all that bad stuff in my life has led me to Brooke. So it's kind of hard to be angry about it all.

I'm running my hands up and down her arm, and wanting so much to pull her face to mine and kiss those perfect lips. But watching her chest move up and down so beautifully I can't bare to take her away from her sleep. Her tired eyes are becoming more obvious every day, and I feel helpless.

The morning I found her sleeping in her car outside my house was the first alarm that went off, but it sure wasn't the last. And tonight when I was awoken by the sound of my girlfriend knocking on my door, I can't help but feel lost as to how to help her.

Any time I try and get her to talk about her parents she'll either change the subject or downplay what she's feeling. That kind of avoidance might work on everyone else, but I know her too well to fall for it. When I feel her arms close around me a little tighter, and a small frown cross her lips I start really wishing I was a mind reader.

I realize now that sleep is a fight I'm definitely not going to win tonight, so I might as well get some reading done.

My intent was honourable.

I simply wanted to busy myself with something so I didn't wake up my tired girlfriend.

Unfortunately when I reached for the book I knocked my lamp off the table. She of course bolted up like a spooked dear.

"What was that" It pained me that she was already wide awake. I guess it wasn't as deep a sleep as I had hoped. I quickly started rubbing her back

"Nothing baby."I gave her a peck on the cheek. "Go back to sleep." But unfortunately before the words are even out of my mouth she's already leaning her back against the wall, and resting her head on my shoulder.

"I'm not tired"

"Brooke. Please talk to me."My eyes are pleading with her to open up to me. And her eyes look so defeated it hurts.

Just as she opens her mouth to speak I hear a knocking on the door. At the sound of the knocking I jumped up which unfortunately caused Brooke to go flying off the bed. At the sound of Brooke falling off the bed the door opens to reveal a very tired looking Keith, and my mother looking anything but happy.

"Hi mom."She tilts her head to the side in response to my foolish greeting

"Lucas."She crosses her arms, and I know she's waiting for me to explain.

"So Keith, do I still work on Wednesday?" Even I feel stupid when I say it.

Keith lets out a chuckle which gets him an elbow in the rib from my mom. He quickly removes the smile from his face and returns to the matter at hand.

"Lucas do you really think this is the time to ask your uncle if you're working?"

"Well I don't know what else to talk about..."I pause and look at my alarm clock. "At 2:30 in the morning."

"How about you explain why poor Miss Davis is lying on the floor."She does her whole head tilt thing again and if not for the seriousness of the situation I might start laughing at Keith's attempts to stop himself from laughing.

"It's actually a funny story."Her head tilts again and I'm pretty sure if I don't explain soon she will break her neck."Well maybe funny isn't the right word for it exactly."

"Well then what words would you like to use. Perhaps breaking curfew. Or maybe breaking the lamp your grandmother gave you."

"Those work."With this my uncle's face can no longer hold in the laughter and he starts laughing. When my mom elbows him again in the side, and he lets out a pained yelp everyone's attention is drawn to the pile of blankets to the side of my bed which are now shaking with the laughter of a certain brunette girl.

"Care to join us Brooke?"It comes out as a question but from the tone it's very clearly not a question.

"I think I'll just stay here Karen." The fear in her voice causes both me and Keith too start laughing.

"This is not funny."My mom glares between me and Keith which causes us both to immediately stop laughing. In my peripheral vision I see Brooke poke her head out of the blankets, and it takes all my strength not to take her right there and then when I see her beautiful face again."Now we will be discussing this before I leave for Italy you can guarantee that Lucas Scott."

And with that she stomps away back to her bedroom. Keith after sending me a sympathetic smile shuts the door and follows her.

With the door now closed I turn around to look at Brooke whose hand is covering her mouth in a failed attempt to stop her from laughing.

"Can you believe our luck Brooke?" Her face loses a little of the smirk before she responds

"I learned a long time ago there is no such thing as luck." The look in her eyes tells me her lack of belief has more to do with the way she was raised.

"Have your parents ever been around?"She starts to get back onto the bed and brings the blanket with her before patting the spot beside her. "Come on Brooke just talk to me. There's nothing you could say that would make me love you less."

"Is it simply impossible for us to just sleep and when I feel comfortable to talk about it, we will?

"Of course it is Brooke. I just don't want you dealing with it all by yourself." I bring myself to lie down beside her, and she quickly brings her head to rest on my shoulder before turning and looking up at me.

"And I'm not am I? I have you now." Her hand gently caresses my cheek.

"Is that right?"I give her a playful look back

"Yep" And with that she scoots closer to me and closes her eyes.

I finally feel ready to slip into sleep.

* * *

I finally wake up to a knocking on the door. I'm at least relieved that Brooke is actually in a deep sleep since she barely even budges. Looking over at the clock I'm surprised to see it's already 7:30, after finding the will to walk to the door I open it up, yawning as I do.

"Haley now is not a good..." I'm shocked when my eyes see that it is not Haley but instead Peyton."What are you doing here Peyton?" When she looks down I remember I'm shirtless with only my boxers to cover the inevitable morning problem

"Well by the looks of your friend there I'm not unwelcome" I quickly cover myself, and gently lead her back outside, before shutting the door behind me.

"This has to stop Peyton. What were you thinking coming here?" She moves closer to me, and I try to move back but my shutting of the door has me trapped.

"I'm here for what we both want Lucas." I jump when I feel her hands work their way into my boxers, and surround my hardness."There's no denying you want this just as much as me." She leans forward to kiss me when a rattling at the door causes her hand to bolt from my morning wood, and lay itself on my shoulder.

"Peyton?" Brooke opens the door and looks shocked to see her. Or she might be shocked to see her as well as me nearly naked. She shuts the door behind her "What are you doing here?" She's so happy to see Peyton and that's the most disgusting thing about it.

"Oh I thought I'd ride with you guys today, if that's ok?" She turns and looks at me "Is that ok with you Luke?" In my peripheral vision I can tell Brookes a little confused why she would ask me but she quickly ignores it pulls Peyton into a hug

"Of course it's ok best friend" Peyton hugs her back but her eyes remain very much on me. And I take this as my opportunity to go inside and get dressed.

After finishing getting dressed I go back outside to find Peyton and Brooke sitting on the chairs talking.

"She has got some nerve talking to me that way."

"What does it matter what Riley thinks Brooke. You've never been able to be alone, that's not your fault." I see the look of pain in Brooke's eyes but once again she quickly removes it from her face and brings the smile back. Though I know it's not real when I don't see her beautiful dimples.

"Yeah I guess." When Brooke spots me she jumps from her chair and kisses me quickly on the cheek." You too wait out here I have to get ready." She opens the door" I'll be ten minutes. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She smiles before closing the door.

"That doesn't narrow it down much does it Luke."She runs her hand up my chest for a second before I push it away.

"What's wrong with you?" For a moment she looks hurt but quickly goes back to normal

"She takes everything. It's not enough that she could buy whatever she wants or have any guy she wanted. She just had to have my boy too."

"Peyton you need to accept the fact that I love Brooke. If you don't stop I will tell Brooke what you've been doing." She scoffs at me

"She wouldn't believe you. Don't you get that?" You're a momentary amusement for her. Judging by what I felt earlier she might ride you for a little longer than the others but in the end it will be just the same."

"That's not even close to the truth, and..."

"Oh and how would you know? I've known her for years. Do you know how many times she's been at a party and joined in when they were trash talking you?"She gave me a smug look.

"I don't believe you Peyton, how can you be so cruel to her?"She paused for a second before looking back at me.

"Fine."She remained standing there just staring at me.

"Fine, what?"I'm downright confused at this point.

"I'll treat Brooke better if you do something for me." Her look changed to one of manipulation.

"What do you want?"She stepped closer to me

"For you to make love to me. Just one time, and if you don't feel the love for me that I feel for you then I will step aside and everything will be fine."She asks it as if it's the most normal question ever asked.

"You must be crazy." Just as I said that the door began to open

"Trust me Lucas I will get what I want anyway." She whispered it seductively in my ear. And I'm positive a month ago I might have exploded from that, but now it just felt wrong.

"You two ready to go?" Brooke came out looking absolutely gorgeous, and my heart nearly skipped a beat.

"Sure Brooke." Brooke skipped down the pathway to the car and Peyton put her hand on my chest and stopped me.

"Think about it Lucas. At least this way she won't leave you because of what she finds out."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I'm not the only one who has a problem with Brooke. It would be a shame if something were to come out that would just break her poor heart."

"Whatever you think you have, I won't let you hurt Brooke." She laughed quietly at me, before looking over my shoulder.

"Too late Luke. You already played your part." With that she winked at me and started walking towards the car.

Fuck I hate her

* * *

When we arrive at school Peyton quickly looks into the backseat where I am.

"We better get going Lucas, we have to present first and I want to get set up." She gives me a manipulative smile.

"I want to talk with Brooke for a bit I'll just meet you there."

"It's ok Broody, we can make out at lunch." She blows a kiss at me and while that makes me smile, I really wish she would sense my uncomfortable vibe and let me stay. Before I can respond I'm interrupted by Peyton scoffing from the front.

"Some girlfriend you are Brooke." Before I can say anything Brooke snaps back at Peyton

"What the hell Peyton."Brooke definitely isn't going to ignore this one. I see the same fire she had when Riley confronted her.

"Well I know all your other relationships. "She says relationships with a laugh before continuing. "Have been completely about sex but maybe Lucas actually wanted to have an emotionally discussion. Some people have actual school work they need to keep up on."

"Peyton just leave, you have no right to talk to Brooke like that. She always makes sure..."Before I can finish Brooke silences me by putting her finger to my lip.

"She right Lucas." I'm too shocked to continue

"She is not right baby. Not even close to it." I put my hands on her both sides of her face and she shrinks her face into my hands. And I feel a tear fall down her cheek

"Yes she is. I'm never serious when you need me to be."

"Brooke I love you. Please don't talk like that."

"I love you too Lucas." As I go into to kiss her she pulls back and opens her car door. "I'll see you at lunch." She says it with so much sadness that I'm literally contemplating punching Peyton.

"Brooke don't leave I need to..."

"It can wait Luke." She softly smiles at me before shutting her door and walking towards the school.

"Well I guess we can go now."Peyton chuckles while she says it

"Fuck you Peyton. Seriously stay the fuck away from me." I get out of the car and start walking towards the school

"Lucas wait."No way in hell am I stopping, and thankfully she doesn't follow me.

My already furious mood isn't made any better when I see Riley leaning against the wall beside the doorway.

"Having a good morning Lucas?"

"I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOU!"I yelled it at her and even I have to admit I was shocked. I tried walking by her but she stood in my way.

"There's no reason to get feisty Luke. I simply wanted to know how your last good morning was going."

"What are you talking about now?" I tried to sound confident but the memory of her car at Peyton's told me I was in trouble.

"Simply that you blew it. Do you have any idea what kind of shit you caused Nathan because of what you did?"

"What I did. Maybe if he wasn't a complete moron he wouldn't be in any trouble." I tried walking by her again but she stood in my way once again.

"Do not talk about Nathan like that."

"I call them like I see them. It's really not my fault that he has such little going on in his life that he has to break school property."She looked hurt which confused me, but it was when she turned around and started to walk away that I got really confused. "What nothing else to say?"

Now I've seen Riley for years.

The angry Riley

The cruel Riley

But this Riley was something else all together. She looked broken. And by the way she was looking at me I'd wager a guess she felt I was the one that broke her.

"I'm tired of this. You just won't leave well enough alone."A tear came down her cheek and she quickly moved her hand to her face to wipe it away."You have no idea what you've done. "Her face composed a little and I guess that allowed her bitch face to return."But you're going to feel the consequences of what you've done soon enough." She opened the door and walked inside.

The rest of the morning was a blur.

* * *

I waited for Brooke at our usual table. 5 minutes went by. Then 10 minutes.

I tried texting her. I tried calling her but there was no response. After 30 minutes I got a pathetic one line response from her

_**Busy with the cheerleaders. Sorry. Xox**_

In the short time I've been with Brooke I was nearly positive this wasn't a good sign. There was no naughty talk to distract me. No beautiful smile to reassure me. There was simply the emptiness to keep me company. As I was formulating a response I got another quick text from her.

**Don't worry I won't miss you rock your game tonight xox**

Well at least she was attempting to talk me down from the ledge.

When my two attempts to call her were met by her voicemail, I walked alone to class and waited for this day to end.

* * *

Sitting in the dressing room waiting for Whitey to come in and take us out is the longest 20 minutes of my life.

It seems like half the players are sending me dirty looks because they blame me for Nathan not playing.

And the other half send me dirty looks because they think I suck as a replacement for Nathan.

So that isn't good.

I can hear Jake talking to me, but I'm far too nervous to make a good conversation. I tried to nod and say yeah whenever it seems necessary but he must think I'm insane.

If the hateful stares of my teammates, and the butterflies in my stomach weren't enough I have to cope with Nathan.

He's sitting in the corner of the dressing room looking very much like the bizzaro Nathan. To be honest I can only assume that's what I might have looked like. His face is in his hands and he's wearing a ravens beanie on his head.

Whenever he looks up.

Which isn't often.

His eyes are filled with a sadness and turmoil that if he was a different person I would feel sorry for. Of course I don't feel bad for him. Why would I feel sorry for him. He made his bed and now he has to lay in it.

My inner monologue is interrupted when Whitey comes rattling through the door.

"Alright boys. Now I know some of you are feeling scared about how we're going to cope without Nathan. You might be feeling like this is a night you can take off. And if you had a different coach that might be true. But if I see so much as a whimpered sigh I'm going to sit you so far down the bench they'll have to pump air into you."As he stared around the room I noticed amongst the shocked expressions of my teammates that Nathan sat unmoving. Head still in his hands. "What are you waiting for a parade, get on the floor boys." As quickly as the words had left his mouth the team got to its feet and headed to the floor.

As I was almost out of the dressing room I turned around and got one last look. Whitey had his hand on Nathan's shoulder and appeared to be talking to him. Before I might have been caught I pulled myself out of the room and onto the floor.

The gym was filled.

I suppose that's normal though. It's a small town, and this is the best show in said town. As I take my practise shots I try and scan around for Brooke, but of course she's nowhere to be seen. For that matter the whole cheerleading team is missing in action. I take a shot, and it misses the net completely. I look around the room and feel confident that no one saw it so I go back to shooting. When my mom and Keith enter the gym they send me a nice wave which of course I return. As I return it I spot Haley. She's has her legs draped over two seats in what I can only assume is a Haley attempt to hold them for Keith and my mom.

She puts on a good front but I know her enough to know her smile for them is phony. There is nothing happy in her eyes anymore.

And it's for that reason almost above all others that I feel nothing for the sad looking Nathan who now sits pouting on the bench.

I take a shot and it goes in. Of course with my luck it bounces off Jakes back and goes rolling into the sidelines.

"Hey man!"Jake pretends to hold his back in pain.

"Oh get over it sissy boy."

"Sissy boy? Did you really call me a sissy boy?"He laughs at me, and my return laughter is silenced by a loud cough from Whitey.

"I'm sorry boys. Are we interrupting your hugging time?"He looks at me sternly

"No sir."We both say in complete army sounding tones. Give us some army uniforms and whitey a whistle. Well he does have a whistle. But that doesn't particularly matter right now.

"Go get that ball and then finish warming up."

"Ok Whitey." I quickly scamper off to find the ball which has somehow managed to roll down the hallway. As I bend down to find the ball I hear a whistle come from behind me.

"Very nice broody boy." I jump back up and snap back around to look at her. She's absolutely perfect.

"Brooke where have you been?"I rub my hands gently along her chin while staring into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Luke."

"Brooke, I'm not mad at you I just want to know what happened today." I can tell she's fighting a battle with herself. One side fighting to tell me the truth and the other side...well who actually cares what the other side is fighting for. As her mouth opens to declare a winner she's saved by a totally saved by the bell kind of moment.

"I told you to find the ball and return. I did not tell you to molest poor Brooke Davis."Whitey says it with a stern tone but his eyes are laughing. Of course Brooke has to break the tension in a patented Brooke Davis method. She runs her hands up my chest and says

"Trust me coach he was not dealing with an unwilling victim."

"That's enough you two, get out on the floor." He gives me a quick stink eye before returning to the floor. The bell then goes off to tell us warm up is over.

"Time for you to rock Luke."Her eyes are filled with such caring that for a moment the nerves melt away. I give her a quick smile before starting to the floor."Luke wait."She's quickly in front of me. "I'm sorry, I just felt like the worst girlfriend in the whole world for messing up your presentation with Peyton, and then I was making you miss meeting your group at lunch. I just really didn't want to screw anything else..."Before she can say anymore I silence her with my lips. At first shocked her lips quickly deepen the kiss and her hands wrap around my neck. I'm only awakened from my Brooke induced haze when I hear Jake calling my name. She pulls back and smiles at me before playfully pushing me towards the court. "I love you Luke."

"I love you too Brooke Davis."

* * *

The start of the game is a battle.

It's not so much of a battle between Tree Hill and Seneca. It's more of a battle to have my teammates admit I exist.

At the end of the second quarter I'm starting to get beyond frustrated. I've made all 6 of my shots but the only time I can get the ball is when I steal it from Seneca, or when Jake passes it to me. The rest of the team completely ignores me.

The second half doesn't start much better but then the miracle happens.

Like they say it's the small things.

As Tim is running around the perimeter trying to find a way to pass it to someone other than the wide open me, the ball accidently slips out of his hands and hits a Seneca player. It bounces off the players back and goes right to the wide open me. When I make the shot the whole Tree Hill team is in shock. From where they were it looked like Tim had made a deliberate pass to me.

And like blind sheep following a silent command the rest of the team begins following the non-existent order.

The rest of the game continues like this.

I can't say the most enjoyable part of the game is my game leading 27 points. Or the 6 assists I get. It isn't the cheers of support I'm getting from Keith, Brooke and my mom. It's not even the fact that I hit the game winning shot at the end.

Its Dan's face.

He looks like a guy who just bet the house on a losing horse. His face starts off as disbelief when I get the Tim back pass. But by the time I hit the winning shot his ears are nearly smoking he's so mad.

When the ball goes in I'm nearly obliterated by Brooke who crashes into me with a power that her small frame should not have. Other then Jake the rest of the team sort of stands around not sure how to react. It's only when Nathan gets up and walks out of the gym that they start slapping my shoulder and congratulating me.

As the crowd disperses I see Dan standing on the bleachers with a look I can't distinguish.

For a moment I hope it's his proud face. However pathetic that makes me.

Of course before I can further dissect his facial features I'm again attacked by Brooke. This time it's her lips, and I'm much less pained by this. As I deepen the kiss I'm interrupted by a cough. This one is considerably less Whitey sounding. At the sound of the cough Brooke bolts off me and playfully slaps me.

"Lucas this is not the place for that."I laugh at her and though her face doesn't her eyes are in near hysterics.

"Did I teach you nothing in life Lucas?"My mother's hands are on her hips and I can tell she wants to more upset then she is.

"I'm sorry mom." Before more can be said about that topic Keith steps in.

"That was quite the site to see Luke." He holds his hand up and I return it with a manly back pat hug.

"Thanks uncle Keith."

Then the voice I never thought I'd hear. To be honest I can't believe she has the courage to join in. Of course my inability to have my mother have any resentment for Haley has allowed her to stay close.

"He's right Luke you played amazing." She looks so small when she says it and it takes all my strength not to hug her.

"Thanks Haley."

"Tutor girl is right you played like frigan Wayne Gretzky Luke." Everyone lets out a chuckle except Brooke who looks so clueless as to what she said.

"As surprised as I am that you knew who Wayne Gretsky is. He played hockey."

"Who cares you know what I meant." She playfully smacks me on the chest and I feign pain.

"So Luke I know it's late but I thought we could all go back to the cafe and have dinner. This is the last night before I leave for Italy." Before I can say anything Brooke jumps in

"We'd love to Karen "And with that Brooke grabbed my hand and started to pull me out off the floor.

"Alright we'll see you at the cafe mom." With that everyone disperses. Including Haley who says her own goodbyes to my parents before starting to walk alone outside.

Its times like this that life is hard.

It's so easy to hate someone. It might be the easiest thing in the world to do.

What's hardest in life is loving someone. Even when they don't deserve it.

I'm broke out of my inner thoughts by Brooke's voice.

"Go get her Luke."I try to pretend to not know who Brooke is talking about

"Get who Brooke?"

"The girl you've been watching walk away for what seems like forever."

"Why should I?"

"Because you love her."She gives me a smile and then gives me a sweet kiss on the lips. "I'll wait for you two at the car." She gives me another kiss on the lips before grabbing her bag from the floor and skipping away.

I swear to god that girl will be the death of me.

I run out the doors and see Haley walking down the pathway.

"Haley!"Her eyes fill with such hope as she turns and walks towards me. When she reaches me she speaks in a voice that I know she's trying to make sound happier then she really is.

"What's up Luke?"

"Do you want to come to dinner?" I try to ask it with as little emotion as possible. She looks pained for a moment before she answers.

"Do you want me to come?"

"That's not fair of you to ask me. Not after everything you've done."

"I know. I'm sorry Lucas, I just...I don't know."She's clearly fighting an inner battle.

"You know my mom would be heartbroken if you didn't come."I know that will get her.

"Fine. But that wasn't fair Luke."She smiles and I can tell from her eyes she wanted me to reciprocate, but I'm in full bitterness mode and that's not happening. She starts turning around and walking towards Brookes car.

But I stop her

"Haley." She turns around clearly prepared for the onslaught she knows is coming. But in that moment I cave. I fail to find the words to tell her. To make her feel as terrible as she made me feel. So instead I say what has to be said.

"This doesn't change anything Haley. You need to know that." Her eyes begin to fill with tears but she uses all her will to stop them. When her head lifts back up her eyes aren't sad. There just empty.

"I know Luke. Trust me I know."And with that she starts walking to the car.

I stand there for a moment before I start walking too. It's then that I remember that while everyone else has their stuff. I'm still in my uniform. I would be nervous but Dan and Nathan already left, so what is there to fear.

How wrong I was.

Walking inside the gym I quickly bee line for the dressing rooms. It doesn't take me long to see the small figure sitting head in hands in the hallway. As I walk closer and realize who it is I prepare for the worst. And unlike usual I'm not going to be hit first.

"If you're waiting for Nathan he already ran away." But she doesn't move. And I refuse to let her bring me down from my victory high so I continue walking.

The voice that follows me is one I've never heard before.

It's a voice that's obscured by what I can only imagine was a considerably long time spent crying.

"You happy now?" As I turn around and look at her face I really don't know how to react. Her makeup is running. I didn't see her on the floor after the third quarter so who knows how long she's been crying. I also see what appears to be a black eye forming on her left eye. I quickly control my emotions and respond.

"Happy that I won? Because Yes I am happy."

"At what cost?"

"That's some ego you have. Like you've spent even a single moment thinking about the cost to me all these years." She whispers something just low enough that I can't hear. "What?"

"It doesn't matter what I say does it. I'm pathetic. I'm stupid. It's all ruined..."I can tell she's going to keep going so I interrupt

"I have no idea what you're going on about."The look of anger in my face must shock her because her sad face is replaced by a hurt look.

"Did we do this to you?"

"Are you serious right now?"Her head lowers and I walk into the dressing room. Quickly grabbing my stuff and putting it all in my bag I head back only to be stopped by Riley standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry Lucas."Her eyes are pleading with me to hear her.

"Are you high right now Riley?"

"I tried. I really did try. You will never understand how hard I tried."Her arms are now on my shoulders clearly attempting to comfort me. I quickly pull away from her arms.

"Well as much fun as all your cryptic talk is I'm going to be going." As I walk by her she grabs my arm and stops me.

"I really am sorry Lucas."Finally caving into her craziness I respond

"Sorry for what? The years of abuse. Or the years I wished you would have just pretended I never existed." Her face looks so pained, and there are now tears running down her cheeks. But she manages to respond in a tear filled voiced

"That. And..."Her mouth goes to continue but no words come out.

"Just finish it so I can go." I try to turn around but her arms hold me in place.

"I'm sorry for..."Her mouth tries again but fails

"That's it I've got better things to do then..."She interrupts me before I can finish.

And a big part of me wishes I would have just left well enough alone.

"I'm sorry for tomorrow." She stares at me for a second before turning around and starting to walk out.

"You say that and now what. You're just going to walk out."

"I'm so sorry Lucas It's too late."Her eyes look filled with so much regret that I feel more worried then I was before.

"What's too late Riley?"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

And with that she walks away. And all I'm left with is the sounds of her shoes hitting the ground and the feeling that I'm not going to like tomorrow.

* * *

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter that took me many months to release lol

Next chapter is Drama, Drama, and for a little change some more drama.

MyNameIsCaitlyn: Thanks a lot. My main goal was to go with something new.

queen08 : Your email actually pulled me out of a ridiculously busy school and work schedual to get back into this story. I now have chapter 11 finished as well. In the process of writing chapter 12.

softballer33 : Way more then a month now lol.

SnowboarderGirl2009 : There was some brucas fluff but probably not as much as hoped snowboarder.

moonkisss : He really does have to get out more. I hadn't even noticed until you mentioned it. After the drama hes got some romancing to do.

As for the anger of Nathan and Riley. There is a lot of shit going on in the background that Lucas cant see. Thats obviously not an excuse but its a reason.

BDavisLScott23 : I love your reviews. I actually changed a significant part in chapter 11 because of your reviews.

EliteDarkLord-DragonSlayer-3.1 : They have issues ya

This wont be a heavy brucas drama story. There will be bumps but I dont forsee a long problem after this

To everyone else hope to hear your reviews, the updates will be much more frequent now.


	11. The Feeling Of Loss

Chapter 11: The Feeling of Loss

Authors Note: Another big delay but should be updating quicker now.

What to say about this chapter though. We all knew this was coming, enjoy the roller coaster.

* * *

The sight of Lucas sitting alone at his table brings a smile to my face. I can see through the corner of my eye that when I start to smile Haley gives me a look that is filled with faint hope. I guess any hope that I was going to keep smiling fade when my eyes land on the empty spot that should be Riley. Poor Haley looks so sad when my smile is replaced by a scowl that I want to go over to her and just hold her.

But of course I don't. I can't be the person she needs me to be.

Of course even though I know that, she sure as hell can't see it. She clings to this idea that the guy she fell in love with is coming back. But that Nathan is gone. I feel so lost all the time, and I know that if I simply talked to her about it I'd feel better.

But of course I don't. I just ignore her.

I can hear Tim yammering on about some party that's going on this weekend, but I can't bring myself to actually listen to him. I mean how I could possibly do that when the reason for all my problems is looking as pathetic as he is.

He's back to sitting by himself at lunch and his pathetic emo look is plastered all over his face 24/7. The past three days I can't remember a time when he wasn't frowning, and for me that's the only satisfying thought of the day. I still haven't been able to talk to my mom. Which is bull shit because Dad said she would be calling me this week. I'm sure he'll have a good excuse when I talk to him about it.

He always has a good excuse.

I wish I could talk to Riley but god knows where she is anymore. She's been locked in her room the past three day's. She just sits in her room crying all day. I can't believe he would do that to her either but get over it. She's yet another person whose life has been ruined by Lucas. And to think that I used to be friends with him makes me sick.

I can still remember the moment when my dad told me the truth about him, and it still pisses me off now as much as it did then. Maybe that's the worst part of the whole thing. The loser takes up so much of my energy. And for his sake let's hope losing his slutty girlfriend will make him go away.

And he better believe that if he doesn't go away things are going to get much worse.

* * *

It's the funniest thing.

Maybe funny is a sick way to describe it, but at the moment I could care less.

2 months ago I would have paid people money to have ignored me the way they have these past two days. Back then basically the only peace I found was the peace I got when I was ignored.

But now the alone time just makes me think of Brooke, and the look she gave me the last time I saw her. I just really don't even fathom how things could have gotten this bad, this quickly.

It's like one day I'm lying in bed with the girl of my dreams and the next day I'm chasing the same girl down the hallway.

It was such a normal morning.

The sun was still shining. The girl I loved was still beside me. And then at the opening of one door it all came crashing down.

_Were just sitting in the front seat of her car, and she's got her head on my shoulder. She's quietly singing along to whatever terrible dancing music she's got playing, and if anyone else was doing it I would have found the music absolutely terrible. But with her it was perfect. I'm only taken out of my day dreaming when she moves from my shoulder and plants a kiss on my cheek._

"_Come on boyfriend you do not want to be late for Bio."I huff at her and she playfully pushes my chest before getting out of the car. She starts walking towards the school and I get out and quickly catch up to her._

"_You're sure in a hurry to get to social sciences baby."I put my arm on her shoulder as we walk._

"_The way I see it, I've got to burn the next couple hours I might as well start now." This girl has so little faith in herself it hurts. When I stop she stops as well and looks back at me._

"_You shouldn't think so little of yourself Brooke." She rolls her eyes and I know right there she doesn't believe me._

"_Lucas you're the smart one. Sometimes the stuff you say just goes right over my head. We are who we are and I wouldn't have it any other way." She then grabs my hand keeps pulling me towards the school. It's kind of funny how much time she spends dragging me places. I wonder whether or not if this was a television show the people watching would think I was like a dog. _

_And as I imagine Brooke pulling me through a park on a dog leash I start to laugh. Of course since I'm laughing about something in my head she turns and looks at me and starts laughing herself._

"_What is so funny?" She has such a happy look to her face._

I wonder what would have happened if I told her what I was thinking. She might have made a dirty joke and got me to skip our class to go fool around. Of course that's just me now dreaming about what could have been.

Of course I didn't explain it because I thought that I would have more time. You always think you have more time.

"_Nothing important." She playfully pushed me again before pulling the door to the school open._

_As we walk in the door it's not hard to notice the staring is back. I find that weird because I didn't do anything to warrant further anger or staring. But then again maybe Nathans head exploded in anger and they blame me. Clearly Brooke notices as she whispers in my ear._

"_What did you do this time boyfriend?" She makes sure to get really close to my ear and speaks very seductively when she says it._

"_I honestly don't know Brooke."_

"_Well whatever if it's a show they want." After saying this she grabs the back of my neck and kisses me._

I wonder now whether I will get a chance to kiss her again. I wonder whether or not I will ever feel the softness of her lips on mine again.

Will that be the last time I'll get to feel the electric spark that runs across my body when were close. If it was I should have savoured it more.

It's just like I said. You always think you have more time.

_She pulls back far quicker then I would have liked. "That was quite the show pretty girl." She smiles and goes to give me another kiss on the cheek._

"_Well isn't this cozy." I don't know which part is creepier about Peyton's arrival. Maybe it was how sneaky she was in approaching us. Or maybe it was the borderline psychotic look she had on her face when she spoke._

"_What do you want Peyton?"I said it with pure malice which earned me a swipe from Brooke_

"_Lucas be nice." She gently rubbed my arm before moving towards Peyton for what I can only assume was going to be a hug._

"_Funny coming from you Brooke." Brooke stopped in her movements like she'd been slapped in the face._

"_What does that mean Peyton?" Brooke's voice is a mixture of hurt and a tiny tinge of anger._

"_Well clearly you're not that nice or you wouldn't have all the problems in your relationship that you do."_

"_What problems Peyton."She looked at me with a worried look. She must have thought I had confided in Peyton or something" What are you talking about?"_

"_Oh like you don't know what I'm talking about, "Her look is one of extreme confidence. She thinks she has something on Brooke and that scares the hell out of me._

"_I really don't Peyton so why don't you just spit it out so me and Luke can go to class." Brooke steps back and moves closer to me. I try and comfort her by rubbing her back._

"_Well first of all he'll be going to class with me. That tends to be what people do after they make love." The moment the words come out I feel Brookes back go rigid. It's like a bomb went off right in that hallway. All the students that had began to gather around go deathly silent. _

"_What are you saying Peyton?" There's more anger in her voice now._

"_Me and Lucas were together last night. And that wasn't the first time." Peyton makes a step towards Brooke, and I move forward a little in an attempt to shield her. Brooke moves quick and gets around me and right into Peyton's face. _

"_Fuck you Peyton Lucas wouldn't do that, so why don't you..."_

"_Why don't you ask him whether we have. "She looks towards me and starts laughing to me like were in some kind of sick inside joke." he laughs about how stupid and gullible you are all the time."_

"_Why are you doing this?" I don't like this tone on Brooke. Its like she's defeated. It sounds like shes conceding defeat in this one. I want her to fight. I need her to not believe this._

"_Why am I doing this?" She puts her hands in the air and gives Brooke a look like she's a complete idiot. "After all this time you still can't see it."_

"_See what?"_

"_You're a joke. A really slutty joke. Did you honestly think Lucas would be interested in you?" Brooke then turns around and I can see the tears falling down her face and I pull her into me to try and take the pain away._

"_Lucas, please tell me she's not telling the truth..." She looks up from my chest when she says it and her face looks so afraid I'm in pain._

"_Baby you have to believe me." I put my hands on either side of her face and looked her in the eyes. Her eyes were so scared and I just wanted to make her believe that was I was saying was the truth. "Nothing she's saying is..."But before I could finish Peyton stuck a piece of paper in between us. I couldn't see the paper but the moment it was in front of Brooke's face she pulled away from me. I pushed the paper away so I could see Brookes face again, but when I saw her face I regretted it immediately. She looked broken. The tears were now flowing and her eyes looked at me with such hurt I wanted to cry._

"_Oh my god I can't believe this." She must have used her last bit of energy to pull herself away from me and started running down the hallway. As she ran away I quickly chased after her. Just as I reached the door I looked back and saw Peyton standing back there amongst the train wreck that was our argument. She had the most unnerving smile on her face._

"_Baby, please don't leave. You have to let me explain. She didn't stop though, and when she reached her car she quickly opened the door and got in. "Don't do this Brooke. I love you she's lying to you. You have to trust me Brooke please." She turned her face towards me and it nearly broke my heart to see how many tears were flowing down her cheeks. Even worse than the tears was the look in her eyes. She looked at me like she didn't know me. She stared at me for a second and her mouth opened but before she could say anything a voice broke the air._

"_I can't believe you're this pathetic Brooke. Like its bad enough you got screwed over by the biggest loser in the school. But to actually stay and listen, it's just so pathetic." I turned around to respond to him, and the moment my eyes moved away from her, I felt the car move and with that she sped out of the parking lot._

_I felt nothing but empty with her departure. Standing felt so tiring in that moment and before I knew it I was on my knees on the ground._

"_I'm not going to lie to you Lucas. That was hilarious."He walked up beside me and sat on the curb next to me._

"_I'm glad my life falling apart is so amusing to you." I'm crying at this point, and when he hears me sniffle he lets out a laugh._

"_It really was."_

"_I didn't ever do anything to you Nathan, why don't you just fucking leave me the hell alone."_

"_You know exactly what you did, and every fucking time you say that I hate you a little more." His voice isn't arrogant anymore. It's filled with his usual hate._

"_Then how about for once you not be so god damn cryptic and just fucking say it. Just say what the fuck I did to you. We used to be great friends Nathan, what the hell happened to you."_

"_My life was perfect until you caused all this shit."_

"_What fucking shit have I caused, I haven't done a..."_

"_You ruined my parents marriage and made fucking Riley this broken." He yells it so loud it almost hurt my ear._

"_What the hell does that mean? I've never even met your mother." What the fuck is it with people freaking out at me today about things I haven't even come close to doing._

"_You fucking liar." He grabs the collar of my shirt and lifts me up from my knees._

"_Are you crazy?" He goes to punch me but his fist stops half way._

"_If I wasn't on probation I would beat your face in so consider yourself a lucky bastard." And with that he walks away and I was left standing in the Tree parking lot with nothing left._

Seeing her drive away is a picture I can't seem to get out of my head. I haven't seen her since then which makes it all the more terrible. My house has been horrible to sleep in now that my mom is gone for the next 6 weeks. It's only been two nights and I already feel like I'm crawling on the walls.

It feels like I've called her a million times, but she never picks up the phone. And every time I stop by her house she shuts off her lights and ignores the ringing at the door. Her car just sits on the front lawn of her house. Short of breaking in I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do.

Sitting alone at this table never felt as empty as it does now. The burden of just getting up in the morning is almost too much for me. If nothing else it would be nice to escape the constant stares of my asshole brother. It's in these moments that Haley's loss is the greatest of burdens.

So I use what little strength I have and start walking. It doesn't seem like I've been walking for that long, but before I know it I'm out front of Brooke's door. Her car is still parked on the front lawn so I guess she still hasn't left her house. I ring the doorbell in another hopeless attempt to see her.

After ten minutes of waiting I accept again that she doesn't want to see me. I'm really not feeling up to going back to school so I start heading for the river court.

The rivercourt has always been like a sanctuary for me and let's hope it can help me today. As I pull out my iPod and lay down in the middle of the court, I can't help but wish I didn't listen to such sad music. When you're up there great but when you're down not so much. I felt none of the relief that I usually feel when I lay here listening to my music. It all just felt so empty.

I try to think back to last night at dinner, and how even though my mom was leaving after we were done it was still a great time. Me and Haley played the part of two best friends for my mom and from what I could tell she bought it.

"_So Lucas you're sure you're going to be alright without me for a few weeks. You tell me right now if there's even a little..."_

"_I really want this for you Mom. " She nodded at me." So no more debate it ok?"_

"_Alright." She gave me a smile and then turned back towards Keith and they started into a conversation. I stopped eating and just took the time to breathe in the moment. Haley and Brooke were talking and laughing to my left. They both looked so happy. It really did suck that Haley was so miserable, but I don't think there was a person in the world that would have thought I should trust her again. Maybe after a time of her being honest and normal Haley we could return to a somewhat normal behaviour. I just wondered how deep Nathan's claws went in. _

_Maybe the Haley I knew was gone. Maybe I would never get to listen to crummy bands play with her anymore. Or play miniature golf on the roof. Those things just seemed so far away._

_Brooke must have sensed my brooding because she squeezed my hand and gave me the prettiest smile. I returned her with a smile and she seemed content, though she kept holding my hand._

"_So Brooke when I return from Italy we'll have to have your parents over for dinner. I love to meet them." Haley immediately started coughing on whatever food she happened to be chewing at the moment._

"_Mom please…"_

"_No everything is fine Luke." She squeezed my hand a little "Ill definitely have to try and get that arranged."_

"_Did I say something…"_

"_No Karen these two are just such drama queens." There was a really awkward 5 minutes after that. Each of us completely engrossed in our food and no one quite sure what to say. Of course Haley decided to end it._

"_So… that presentation in English was a real disaster today Lucas." And with that everyone broke out of their silence and started laughing. Once everyone had returned to conversation i gave Haley an appreciative smile, and she returned with a smile of her own. The rest of the dinner went really well, and before I knew it I was saying my goodbyes to my mom, and then Keith drove her and Haley away._

"_You ok Luke" She wrapped her tiny body around me and I felt far more comforted by it then I should have._

"_Yeah I just feel weird I guess." I give her a kiss on the forehead and pull her closer._

"_That's ok broody. Any normal person is sad when their mom goes away." While I'm sure she thought she could get away with making that comment, I wasn't going to ignore it._

"_How does it make you feel?"_

"_Lonely." She looked up at me with a half sad smile."It isn't a feeling I'd wish on my worst enemy."_

"_Not even Riley?"She let out a chuckle_

"_Not even Riley."_

"_Well I guess you're a better person then me because I'd definitely wish this on Nathan."She once again started laughing at me, and once again I simply loved the fact that I could make her feel even a quarter of the happiness that she made me feel._

"_I can't believe you ever doubted it."After a few more moments of holding her, she pulled back and gave me a mischievous smile. "I have a way we can prove who the better is."_

"_Is it legal pretty girl?"_

"_Well I don't know whether city by laws allow for a golf course on the roof boyfriend." I give her a confused look._

"_You lost me." _

"_Beat me on your little gold course upstairs."_

"_You wanna play mini golf?" Who would have ever thought Brooke would have ever wanted to play mini golf_

"_I want to prove I'm the best. The rest is just the method." I pretended to think about her request._

"_But beating you will be so easy, I need a little more incentive."_

"_Well you sure are confident."_

"_I have a gift" She smacked me in the chest playfully_

"_Fine, fine. If you win you can do whatever you want to me for an hour." She seductively ran her hand up my chest, and then gave my neck a kiss before turning around and walking up the stairs._

"_I was thinking more like you make me a sandwich…but that'll work" I quickly ran up the stairs after her._

Of course I won.

Now normally I would have let her win but the thoughts I had for that hour were simply too magnificent to pass on. Had I of known that might have been the last touches I would have with her I might have kept her awake.

But her tired body did fall asleep last night. And then after holding her for awhile I to fell asleep.

It's all just so meaningless without her.

I start thinking that maybe I should get the old tent I have and pitch it on her lawn. Maybe that would show her. Maybe that would make her see. But before I can start planning my crazy stalking I'm interrupted by a shadow over me.

I've been shocked by her arrival so many times I really shouldn't be surprised it's the shadow of my lovely sister. I sit up and take my head phones out. It's not until this moment that I actually take her in. This is not the Riley I know. She's sporting a big hoody, and she is makeup less. Her eyes are what really get me. They are so sad, but that's not the real feature of them that gets me. It's the black eye she has that really catches my attention. Of course we declared war a long time ago. There was never any kindness showed to me when I was sad. So in what world does she deserve better.

"What are you doing here? You come to gloat?" She doesn't say anything. She just stands there staring at me. "Are you on drugs or something?" She still doesn't say anything and I'm about to say something else rude, when she nearly jumps forward and wraps her arms around me. I try to get her off me but she's clinging to me like a small child. She's crying uncontrollably at this point and I give up my resistance. I just stand there while she uses all her might to hold onto me. When her crying finally starts calming down and he Hercules grip lets up for a second I pull away quickly. The moment I do and I see her face again I see the pain etched on her. It must be the human side of me that feels bad for pulling away. That's the only explanation why I feel so bad when I pull away from her.

"I'm so sorry Lucas." She steps towards me and I step back again.

"You can't possibly say that to me. Not after everything you've done." She's got some balls saying that

"You don't understand Lucas, I wasn't thinking." She's reaching her arms towards me. She looks so desperate for comfort, and once again I feel uncomfortable about how much I wish I could help her in that moment.

"You weren't thinking? Really that's what you're going to go with."

"I know its all bull shit but I'm your sister." Well that one caught my attention.

"What now were related because you feel bad?" She looked hurt by that comment.

"I know that I hurt you."

"Hurt me?" I step back from her. "You two have destroyed me. I have nothing left. Don't you understand that? You spent your entire fucking life striving for this moment. So congrats, you finally got your wish."

"I'll fix this I promise you." She's crying so the words come out all chocked.

"You've done enough."

"Please Lucas I promise you I'll fix this." She looks so worn out when she says it I feel myself feeling bad for her again. Of course all I have to do is remember every other conversation I've ever had with her and that feeling goes away.

"I'm done with this." As I start to turn around she kneels down on court "And by the way you should get daddy to take care of that black eye for you." She had her head down when I said it and I could hear that she said something, but her voice was too low to make it out. "At least speak loud enough that I can hear you."

"It doesn't matter." She sounded so defeated.

"Fine." If she's only going to speak in code I'm done with this.

"What if I said it was Dan? Would that make a difference?" She looks at me with hurt eyes.

"What was Dan?" I know the answer to the question but I guess my mind needs a minute to absorb it. I mean she's supposed to one of the golden children. Throughout my whole life of all the things I was sure of one of them was that Dan loved those two.

"The reason I have a black eye."

"I'd say that was the first thing in our whole lives we have in common."

"You're my brother we have more than that."

"Doesn't matter now does it."

"It's all that matters." She nearly whispers it.

"Well I'm going to take a lesson from you when you saw Dan beating me up." And I turned around and started walking away.

"Please don't leave." I stopped at the edge of the court and looked back.

"Whatever this is you know I don't believe you."

"What can I say to make you believe me?" Her voice is pleading with me.

"It's not about what you say. It's about what you do. Try doing something nice for a bit." Her face seemed to light up in hope.

"And then you'll trust me." She looked at me with so much hope it was tough to say anything rude in return. But I had to.

"Doubtful." When her face dropped at my comment I felt bad. I felt far worse then I should of and because of that I felt inclined to say something less mean. "But it would be a start." It looked like the hope had returned to her face after that. And with that I turned around and continued walking away.

This time she didn't stop me.

* * *

My room never seemed as empty as it did now.

Her smile used to bring me out of these moods, but now it was the fact I might not see her smile again that made me in this mood. It sucked it took this moment for me to realize that the only picture I had of her was one she had taken on my phone. You'd think I'd have huge boxes full of her, but it's just another thing I failed at.

I tried reading but realized quickly in that was going to work. So I ended up just laying there. After what seemed like hours of just laying there I finally fell asleep.

* * *

I'm awoken by the feeling of someone rubbing up and down my arm. I turn over and see her. She has her hair in a bun and her eyes look worn out. But to me she looks perfect. I don't say a word just gently caress her cheek before I kiss her. Her hand finds its way to the back of my neck and she forces her way on top of me, never taking her lips from me as she moves. I'm running my hands up her body and trying to remember every inch of her. The feel of her smooth toned body is like heaven and I try to get it all in.

I need more of her and so I grab at the bottom of her shirt and pull it over her head. When it's off I run my hands up her chest and she jumps a little at the contact.

"It tickles."We both share before she reconnects our lip more forcefully this time. After a few seconds her tongue begs for entrance and gladly oblige.

"Brooke I need you so much" I move my lips to her neck and start leaving passionate kisses on her neck which causes her to let out a moan.

"Then take me Lucas." That's all the encouragement I needed to move back and take my pants off. She does the same and I return to her lips and as were kissing she grabs me and pumps me until I'm on the brink of exploding. I grab her hand and force her to stop.

"Not like that baby." She smiles up at me before grabbing me and guiding me into her. As always its an out of body experience to be together with Brooke in this way. I start thrusting slowly in to her at first. It's never enough for me though. I need to feel more of her. I try to be gentle at first but she starts lifting her hips in return which makes me start to lose control.

"Harder baby. Make me cum." I hold with all my might not to lose complete control. I refuse to fail her. I thrust harder into her and continue assaulting her lips. Her hips meet mine and I can feel her starting to tighten on me so I move even faster which brings her over the edge. As she falls over the edge she puts both her hands on my face and kisses me with so much passion I go over as well and release in her. I use all my remaining strength to hold myself above her. My whole body wants to collapse but I need to see her.

Her face is complete bliss. A dimpled smile from ear to ear makes me feel better than I have since I last saw her.

She starts rubbing her hands up and down my side and I finally lose my strength falling beside her on the bed. She quickly scoots closer to me and rests her hand on my chest and nuzzles her head under my arm. As we lay together I feel I have to ask the question that's been plaguing me since I woke up.

"Is this a dream Brooke?"

"Does this feel like a dream broody?" She's rubbing her hand up and down my chest.

"Everything feels like a dream when I'm with you." I reach for her other hand and hold it tight to me.

"Then why waste time pondering the unknown?"

"Because I need to know you're actually going to be here when I wake up."

"I'm always with you Luke." She looks at me with so much love that I believe it.

"So this is a dream." I try not feeling sad, but I can't help myself. I really wanted this to be real.

"Don't worry Lucas. Everything will be better in the morning. Just know in your heart that I love you with everything I have." The confidence in her eyes makes me believe her. I let go of her hand and put my arms around her.

"If I fall asleep then this all goes away and I'm back to life without you."

"I already told you that I loved you."

"What if you never talk to me?"

"Make me."

"I love you so much Brooke." I hold onto her a little harder. Not hard enough to cause her to be uncomfortable but I need to hold her because if I let go she might be gone.

"I love you too broody." I tried to fight the overwhelming urge to fall asleep. I tried so hard to just hold onto her and never let go.

"Stop fighting Luke."She kissed me on the chest before scurrying back into my chest

"I will get this back I promise you Brooke."

"That's my Luke." She inched upwards and kissed me on the lips. I put my hand on the back of her neck and kissed her harder. She pulled back and looked at me "It's time for school Lucas."

"What are you talking about Brooke?"

This time her voice wasn't hers anymore it was Keith's and I was lying alone in my bed.

"Are you ok Lucas?"

"Yeah I'm ok." I'm really upset that I'm out of the dream. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Your mom and I decided I might as well just stay here the whole time she's gone."

"What about the last two days."

"To be honest I thought I'd give you some alone time before I went all sheriff on this place. Don't tell your mother."

"Well I'm glad you're here Keith, it should be fun." I tried to sound excited but I was just so depressed it didn't come through.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong buddy." He looked at me with so much love I nearly started to cry. Something I'm doing way too much lately.

"Brooke basically broke up with me."

"What happened you two were so happy a couple days ago? It was practically gross how happy you two were." He slaps me on the shoulder. I know he's trying and that means a lot.

"Some people said some lies that made me look really bad."

"Well if people are telling lies maybe Brooke should here the truth." I get up and start pacing around the room.

"But she won't see me." He puts his hand on my shoulder to stop my pacing.

"Then make her see you." He looks me right in eyes when he says it.

"How do I do that?" I flop back down onto the bed.

"You're a smart and determined guy. You won't have any trouble Lucas." He sat down beside me on the bed. "She needs to hear the truth. No matter what happens in life, the people we love always need to hear the truth."

"Thanks Uncle Keith." I smile up at him because I mean it. He doesn't have to be a good guy. He could have very easily turned into Dan but he chose a different path. And I love him like a father for that.

"I'm always here for you Lucas." And with that he left the room and I had to start getting ready for school.

* * *

It's funny how long it takes to get ready for something when you don't care. I used to get ready so quickly on days when she wasn't here. Just so I could see her a little sooner. But now each article of clothing feels like such a lengthy task. When I'm finally ready I grab my bag and walk out the door.

It feels like days since I've felt alive. But the moment I see her car parked out front the house it's like I'm reborn.

I should walk calmly towards her car. That's what I should do though. What I actually do is start sprinting to her car. When I reach her door I bend down and look in the window. She's sitting back in her seat. She looks over at me and gives me a little smile. That's all the recognition I need to get in the car. Once I'm in the car I can't seem to find the words to start the conversation. We just sit there in the car staring at each other.

Her eyes don't sparkle with the happiness and love I'm used to seeing when I look into them. She just looks so damn sad that I almost want to cry.

"I missed you Brooke." She gives me a half smile

"I don't know what to say. Everything is so fucked up." I reach my hand out and hang onto her hand.

"What Peyton said was a lie Brooke you have to believe me. I would never…"

"I know Lucas." She must see the confusion on my face because she begins to speak again. "Riley told me."

"She what?" I know she said she would fix it but in what world did I actually even entertain the idea she'd actually do it.

"She came over last night and rang the door bell for so long I couldn't take it anymore. I thought it was you and even after everything that I heard I still missed you. So I thought what the hell I'd go down stairs and yell at you for awhile. At least that way I'd get to see you." She put her hand on my cheek and I could see a tear beginning to form in her eye."

"But it was Riley." Brooke let out a laugh and as she always does she makes me smile.

"We talked for what awhile. Well actually she told me she and Peyton had hatched the whole scheme, and then I yelled at her for the rest of the time."

"I'm so sorry Brooke."

"When I was done kicking her out of my house, I jumped in my car and drove here."

"Why didn't you call me or tell me you were here." The moment I finished she moved the consol up and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm an idiot." She choked out.

"Brooke don't say that, you're not an idiot."

"Yes I am Luke. I just believed her and ran out." She hugs me even harder and I reciprocate by kissing her on the top of the head. "I felt so stupid after Riley finished saying her bullshit I couldn't bear to think about how bad you must feel." She's crying so hard that I can feel wetness through my shirt.

"Brooke…"

"No Luke let me finish. You have never done a bad thing to me the entire time I've known you and I just…I just threw you away. When I think about how alone you must have felt I can't…" I couldn't take hearing her so sad anymore so I Stopped her the only way I knew how.

I kissed her. I kissed her with everything I had. Every movement of our kiss felt like a part of me that was coming back. A piece of my soul that I thought I had lost was rebuilding itself.

"I love you Brooke Davis." I get out in between kisses. She stops kissing me and moves her head back to stare into my eyes.

"I love you more than anything Lucas. You're it for me Lucas. If I ever lost you then I don't know what I'd do."

"You're never going to lose me pretty girl. There isn't minute I don't think about you. I don't care how unhealthy that is because I love you too. Promise me you'll never leave me again."

"I'll never leave Lucas." And with that I return to worshipping her lips.

God I missed her.

* * *

Authors Note: Thanks for reading everyone, and hope your excited to see the fall out in the next chapter. Next chapter will be some fluff though as well.

Tree Hill Lover: Riley is hopefully even more Human now

Softballer33 : Thanks for the review

BornagainBrucasFan: Thanks for the review and the PM's. The argument is mainly over now.

Brucas Lover: Fuck Peyton is right


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